By Sulaiman Aruna Sesay
Sierra Leone is mourning the loss of a prominent legal scholar, Dr. Abdulai Osman Conteh, who passed away at the age of 78 due to an illness. Dr. Conteh was widely celebrated for his contribution to the drafting of Sierra Leone’s constitution.
Dr. Abdulai Osman Conteh Esq (5 August 1945-2 August 2024) was a Sierra Leonean lawyer and politician. He was a former 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, where he served as the country’s chief justice before returning to Sierra Leone. He died in Freetown, Sierra Leone on 2nd August 2024 after a short period of illness.
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; LLB (Hons): 1971, King’s College, Cambridge; LLM: 1971, London University, United Kingdom; LLB (Hons): 1969, King’s College London;
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.
The news of Dr. Conteh’s passing has been met with an outpouring of grief and tributes from across Sierra Leone and beyond. Colleagues, friends and former students have described him as a “mentor,” “a brilliant lawyer” and a “true patriot.” Dr. Abdulai Osman Conteh’s death is undoubtedly a significant loss for Sierra Leone, but his legacy will continue to inspire generations of legal scholars and advocates for democracy and human rights.
