MEET LYNETTE SALOME KAMARA: WIFE OF SIERRA LEONE’S ATTORNEY GENERAL AND MINISTER OF JUSTICE, JOSEPH FITZGERALD KAMARA
Lynette Salome Kamara is the wife of Sierra Leone’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara. Having been married since 2006, the family is blessed with three children; Francine Sukai, Simone Madikizela and Jahzeel Agbalan.
Born on 6th October, 1974, Mrs. Kamara hails from a middle class family in the Western Area. Her father, Dr. John Fowell Whitfield and mother Dr. Lottie Cassandra Omojowo Whitfield (nee Seymour) live and still run a successful medical practice dating back to the 1970s.
Lynette is an alumnus of the University of East Anglia, UK where she pursued a Master’s degree in International Relations and Development Studies in 2004 and specialized in global politics and development issues. She was previously educated at the St Joseph’s Secondary School, Freetown between 1986 -1991, and pursued 6th Form education at Lebanese International School before enrolling at the Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone in 1993. At FBC, Lynette graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and Sociology during which she met her husband Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara (then a State Counsel at the Law Officer’s Department).
Upon her return home from post graduate studies, she rejoined the Governance Reform Secretariat to support the reform of the civil service having previously supported the Secretariat in the implementation of Paramount Chief Restoration Programme (2000) funded by the DFID-UK as part of the GoSL post-war reconstruction agenda.
Her reform interests also took her to the Sierra Leone Ports Authority (SLPA), where she served as Deputy Head of Logistics in 2005 on a World Bank funded project, aimed at facilitating the privatization of the SLPA thereby improving the management and service delivery of the Port.
Through her career journey, Lynette also volunteered to lecture (pro bono) a postgraduate degree class at Fourah Bay College (Political Science Department), where she taught Ethics of Terrorism and Political Violence.
Lynette’s wide-ranging professional experience also includes work with UNAMSIL as Procurement Officer. She currently occupies herself with the ongoing transformation of the National Development Bank Limited to a new Bank for Agriculture and Industry when she was contracted by the National Commission for Privatization to serve as the Consultant Administrative Head.
As a champion for women’s empowerment, over the years, Lynette has worked tirelessly with girls and women in providing a safe space for women’s socio-political and economic participation and legal protection for vulnerable women. Through the work of her husband, she has been able to reflect and provide advice and support to community women’s groups in accessing services and navigating the structures of power and authority to protect their rights and create a sustainable space for livelihoods development.
