Abdulai Osman Conteh (5 August 1945 – 2 August 2024) was a Sierra Leonean lawyer and politician. He was a Vice-President of Sierra Leone, who served under President Joseph Saidu Momoh before he was ousted by the military junta in 1992. Conteh later spent a considerable number of years in

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

, where he served as the country's chief justice before returning to Sierra Leone.

Early life and education

Conteh was born on 5 August 1945 in the village of Rogbere, Gbinleh Dixon Chiefdom in

Kambia District Kambia District is a district in the North West Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is the town of Kambia. As of the 2015 census, The District had a population of 343,686. Kambia District borders the Republic of Guinea to the ...

, British Sierra Leone. He was from Sierra Leone's Susu ethnic group, which is predominantly based in the north-eastern part of the country - especially Kambia. Conteh was raised mostly in Freetown; he attended Albert Academy and later Fourah Bay College before travelling to the UK for further studies. Dr. Conteh has the following educational qualifications: Ph.D., (International Law), 1974,

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

; LLB (Hons): 1971,

; LLM: 1971, London University, United Kingdom; LLB (Hons): 1969,

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

; Barrister at Law: Called to the Bar of England and Wales, 1970, at Lincoln's Inn, London, United Kingdom; Harold Porter Prize man In Land Law, 1968. He returned home in the early 1970s and worked for the SL Law Officers Department. Dr. Conteh later went into private practice and taught law at Fourah Bay College for several years.

Political career in Sierra Leone

Conteh was a member of the All Peoples Congress (APC) party. His public service in Sierra Leone has included holding the offices of

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

(1977–1984); Minister of Finance (1984–1985); Attorney-General and Minister of Justice (1987–1991) and First Vice-president and Minister of Rural Development (1991–1992). He served as a member of Parliament from Kambia District (his paternal home district) from 1977 to 1992. In late 2007, Conteh was nominated as a candidate to become Chairperson of the African Union Commission in early 2008, but he was not successful, with Jean Ping of

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

being elected.

Chief Justice of Belize (2000–2010)

In January 2000, Conteh became the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Belize. In 2007 and 2010, Conteh authored two decisions affirming the

common law Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

doctrine of

aboriginal title Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the Indigenous land rights, land rights of indigenous peoples to customary land, customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty to that land by another Colonization, colonising state. ...

and the existence of

Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...

customary land tenure in the Toledo District of Belize. Only the villages of Conejo and Santa Cruz were parties to the 2008 ruling; however, the 2010 ruling was the result of a representative action on behalf of all the Maya communities. The ruling voided all government leases, concessions, grants, and contracts adverse to the Maya tenure. The "landmark victory" is predicted to have "far-reaching implications" for "logging, mining, and petroleum concessions in what the Maya community claims is over 500,000 acres of ancestral homeland."''Belize News''. 29 June 2010.
CJ rules for Maya; implications “huge”
" The government appealed the decision to the Caribbean Court of Justice, where on the eve of the hearing it conceded all of Justice Conteh's original holdings. The CCJ later awarded the Maya damages for violation of their constitutional right to have their property legally protected. Conteh turned 65 on 5 August 2010, forcing him to retire since his contract was not renewed by Prime Minister Dean Barrow.Oscar Ramjeet. 19 July 2010.
Controversy over retirement of Belize's chief justice
." Barrow's decision not to offer Conteh a renewal was condemned by the Belize Bar Association in a resolution criticising the "unseemly manner in which the tenure of the chief justice has been treated by the government of Belize." His retirement became a "national political issue because the Chief Justice is popular with the masses of the Belizean people, and is regarded by many as fair-minded and fearless. Several of his landmark rulings particularly on constitutional issues are considered "anti-government" and "anti-establishment," and many were made even under the former Musa administration."

Other judicial appointments

In December 2008, Conteh was appointed a Justice of the Court of Appeal of the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

. In 2010, he was appointed to the Court of Appeal of the Bahamas, where he served until November, 2015.

Personal life and death

Abdulai Conteh was married to Radia Labi Conteh, and they had six children. He died after a short period of illness in

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...

, Sierra Leone, on 2 August 2024, at the age of 78.

References

External links

belizelaw.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conteh, Abdulai 1945 births 2024 deaths Vice-presidents of Sierra Leone Alumni of King's College London Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Members of Lincoln's Inn Chief justices of Belize Foreign ministers of Sierra Leone 20th-century Sierra Leonean lawyers Sierra Leonean judges on the courts of the Bahamas Sierra Leonean judges on the courts of Belize Sierra Leonean judges on the courts of the Cayman Islands Susu people Attorneys-general of Sierra Leone Finance ministers of Sierra Leone Government ministers of Sierra Leone People from Port Loko District People from Freetown 21st-century Sierra Leonean judges 20th-century Sierra Leonean politicians