John Oponjo Benjamin (born 29 November 1952 in

Segbwema Segbwema is a town in Kailahun District in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. The town is a major business and agricultural centre. Segbwema lies approximately 20 miles northeast of Kenema and about 225 miles south-east of Freetown (further b ...

Kailahun District Kailahun District is a district in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital city, capital and largest city is the town of Kailahun. The second most populous city in the district is Segbwema. Other major towns in Kailahun District inclu ...

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 Cro ...

) is a

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

of Mende descent. He was the leader of the main opposition

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 April 4, 2018. The SLPP ...

(SLPP) to 2013. He served as

Minister of Finance of Sierra Leone Sierra Leone Ministry of Finance is a ministerial department of the Government of Sierra Leone, and is in charge of managing the revenue and finances of the Sierra Leone government. The ministry implements the Sierra Leone government economic poli ...

from 2002 to 2007.https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/resource-documents/10630.pdf During that period, Benjamin helped lead Sierra Leone through the Paris Club's 100%

debt cancellation Debt relief or debt cancellation is the partial or total forgiveness of debt, or the slowing or stopping of debt growth, owed by individuals, corporations, or nations. From antiquity through the 19th century, it refers to domestic debts, in particu ...

program. Benjamin was the chairman of the

Council of State Secretaries A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

in 1992.

References

Sierra Leone sees all debt cancelled
afrol news, 24 January

1952 births Living people Finance ministers of Sierra Leone Sierra Leonean economists Sierra Leone People's Party politicians Mende people People from Kailahun District {{SierraLeone-politician-stub