Amadu Wurie (27 August 1898 – 13 June 1977) was an early

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

an educationist and politician.

Biography

Wurie was born in

Gbinti Gbinti is a rural town in Dibia chiefdom, Port Loko District in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. The town is the chieftaincy seat of Dibia chiefdom. Gbinti lies about 20 miles from the district capital Port Loko and approximately 52 mile ...

Port Loko District Port Loko District is a district in the North West Province of Sierra Leone. It is the most populous district in the North and the second most populous district in Sierra Leone, after Western Area Urban District. As of the 2015 census, Port Loko ...

, in the Northern Province of

British Sierra Leone The Colony and Protectorate of Sierra Leone (informally British Sierra Leone) was the British colonial administration in Sierra Leone from 1808 to 1961, part of the British Empire from the abolitionism era until the decolonisation era. The Crow ...

, the son of a Fula

paramount chief A paramount chief is the English-language designation for a king or queen or the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a Chiefdom, chief-based system. This term is used occasionally ...

. He was educated at the Bo School in Bo, one of the first set of pupils (Admission Number 55) when the school opened in 1906. In 1916, he was in the first class of Sierra Leoneans that passed the British civil service exam and was appointed the assistant headmaster of the Bo School that year. By 1935, Wurie rose to the position of Senior assistant headmaster which allowed him to be the first African to serve even temporarily as the Headmaster. From 1935 to 1955, Wurie served in various locations across the colony, primarily as headmaster and inspector of schools. Upon national independence in 1961, Wurie was elected as an MP under the banner of the

Sierra Leone People's Party The Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, along with its main political rival the All People's Congress (APC). It has been the ruling party in Sierra Leone since 4 April 2018. The SLPP d ...

(SLPP), a party he helped found. He was first appointed Minister of Education and later Minister of Interior, a position he kept until he lost his seat in 1967. He then retired to Mahera in the

and later made a

Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

. In 1973, Wurie was honoured with an honorary doctorate degree from

University of Sierra Leone The University of Sierra Leone is the name of the former unitary public university system in Sierra Leone. Established in February 1827, it is the oldest university in Africa. As of May 2005, the University of Sierra Leone was reconstituted into ...

. Wurie died in June 1977 at the age of 79.

External links

"Sierra Leonean heroes Fifty Great Men and Women Who Helped to Build Our Nation"
Sierra Leonean educators Sierra Leone People's Party politicians 1898 births 1977 deaths Education ministers of Sierra Leone Interior ministers of Sierra Leone Government ministers of Sierra Leone Sierra Leonean Fula people People from Port Loko District {{SierraLeone-politician-stub