Christiana Thorpe | |
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former Chief Electoral Commissioner of the Sierra Leone Electoral Commission | |
Preceded by | James Jonah |
Personal details | |
Born | Freetown,Sierra Leone | August 16,1949
Nationality | Sierra Leonean |
Residence | Freetown,Sierra Leone |
Alma mater | University College Dublin,Dublin,Ireland |
Dr. Christiana Ayoka Mary Thorpe (born 16 August 1949 in Freetown,Sierra Leone) is a former two-term Chief Electoral Commissioner and Chairperson of the National Electoral Commission,an independent agency created by the Sierra Leone government to organise and supervise national,regional and local elections. [1] She is the first woman Chief Electoral Commissioner in the country's history. [1] She was also a Deputy Minister of Education in the 1990s. In March 2016,she was appointed a Deputy Minister of Education,Science and Technology, [2] [3] [4] though one source states that Parliamentary approval was still pending. [5]
Thorpe grew up in one of Freetown's poorest communities. [6] In 1952,she and a younger sister went to live with their grandmother Christiana (for whom she was named) in the poor neighbourhood of Kroo Bay because their parents were overburdened with a large family (eventually eight children). [7] [8] The elder Christiana was a washerwoman and herbalist who was to have a great influence on her. [7] [8] She and her sister were the only girls in the neighbourhood who went to school. [7] [8] She used to teach what she had learned to other girls,discovering that she loved teaching. [7] [8]
After she completed secondary school,she left for Ireland,where she studied in a convent and became a nun. [1] She attended University College Dublin and obtained a degree,followed by a master's and a Ph.D. in the British West Indies. [9]
She returned to Sierra Leone and became the principal of St. Joseph's Secondary School for girls in Makeni,a village north of the capital city of Freetown. [1] [6] After 20 years as a nun,she found that following convent rules and regulations conflicted with her teaching,and she made the painful decision to leave the convent. [1] [6] [10]
When Captain Valentine Strasser seized power in 1992,Dr. Thorpe was the only woman in his cabinet of 19 ministers,serving as Deputy Minister of Education. [1] [10] [11] In 1995,she formed and chaired the Sierra Leone branch of the Forum for African Women Educationalists. [1] [10]
In 2005,Ahmad Tejan Kabbah,President of Sierra Leone,asked her to head the National Electoral Commission. [1] [8] She served as Chief Electoral Commissioner for two consecutive five-year terms,although when then-President Ernest Bai Koroma nominated her for her second term,the opposition Sierra Leone People's Party raised concerns about the neutrality of the commission and walked out of Parliament in protest. [12] She introduce the Biometric Voter Registration system,which combats voter registration fraud. [9]
After the end of her second term,in 2016,she was appointed one of two Deputy Ministers of Education,Science and Technology in a cabinet reshuffle, [2] [3] [4] though one source states that Parliamentary approval was still pending as of April. [5]
Thorpe has received one of the 2006 Voices of Courage Awards from the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children. [13]
On November 3,2014,the International Foundation for Electoral Systems presented to her the Joe C. Baxter Award. [14]
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