BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRO-SIERRA LEONEAN " CHIEF JUSTICE HON UMU HAWA TEJAN-JALLOH " IS THE CURRENT CHIEF JUSTICE OF SIERRA LEONE : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS "

            BLACK    SOCIAL  HISTORY                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Umu Hawa Tejan-Jalloh

Umu Hawa Tejan-Jalloh
Chief Justice of Sierra Leone
Incumbent
Assumed office January, 2008 [1]
Nominated by	Ernest Bai Koroma
Preceded by	Ade Renner Thomas
Sierra Leone High Court Judge
In office 1996–2004
Nominated by	Ahmad Tejan Kabbah
Sierra Leone Court of Appeals Judge
In office 2004–2008
Nominated by	Ahmad Tejan Kabbah
Personal details
Born	16 April 1949 (age 65) Freetown, Sierra Leone
Nationality	Sierra Leonean
Political party	Non
Residence	Freetown, Sierra Leone
Alma mater	Fourah Bay College Njala University Columbia University University of London
Profession	Judge
Religion	Islam

Haja Umu Hawa Tejan Jalloh (born April 16, 1949 [2]) is the current Chief Justice of Sierra Leone. She was sworn in as Sierra Leone's Chief Justice on January 25, 2008. She succeeded retired Chief Justice Ade Renner Thomas[3][4][5]. She is the first woman to hold the Chief Justice position in Sierra Leone's history [6]. Jalloh is the older sister of Sierra Leonean diplomatSulaiman Tejan-Jalloh.

Umu Hawa Tejan Jalloh was born and raised in the capital Freetown to prominent parents from the Fula ethnic group. Jalloh holds aBachelor of Laws from Fourah Bay College, a Master of Laws from Columbia University in New York and from the University of London.

In 1975, she was appointed as a State Counsel in the Sierra Leone Ministry of Justice. She was later promoted to senior State Counsel and Principal State Council. In 1996 she was appointed as a Sierra Leone High Court Judge, where she served until 2004, when she was appointed as a Sierra Leone Court of Appeals Judge. She remained in that position until she was appointed as the Sierra Leone Supreme Court Justice in 2008.

Eerly life and education

Umu Hawa Tejan-Jalloh was born on April 16, 1949 [7] in the Sierra Leonean capital Freetown to Muslim parents from the Fulaethnic group, originally from Koinadugu District in the north of the Sierra Leone. Like her parents, Umu Hawa Tejan-Jalloh is also a Muslim. She is the older sister of Sierra Leonean diplomat Sulaiman Tejan-Jalloh. Jalloh's mother was the President of the Sierra Leone National Fullah Women’s Association for twenty six years; and her father served in the Freetown City Council[8].

Umu Hawa Tejan-Jalloh grew up in Freetown. She attended the Harford Secondary School for Girls in Moyamba, Moyamba Districtand the St. Edward's Secondary School in Freetown.

After her secondary education, she attended Sierra Leone's Fourah Bay College and Njala University and got a Bachelor of Laws degree. In 1974, She got a scholarship to study at the prestigious Columbia University in New York, where she did her Master of Laws. She later continued her legal education at the University of London.