Abdul Tejan Cole

Biography

He holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) Degree from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, a Master of Laws from University College London and a post-graduate diploma in International Trade Law from the University Institute of European Studies. He was a Human Rights Teaching Fellow at Columbia University in New York and a Yale World Fellow.

He worked as a trial attorney and appellate counsel in the Special Court for Sierra Leone and taught law at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. He was the Deputy Director at the International Center for Transitional Justice’s (ICTJ) Cape Town Office and worked as Adviser and Component Manager Law Justice and Human Rights - Justice Sector Development Programme. He served as Secretary General of the Sierra Leone Bar Association, and later as Vice President and then as President. He was Board Chair of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) (2002–07) and is former Chair of West Africa Democracy Radio (WADR) and a board member of the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), Timap for Justice, and West Africa Civil Society Institute. He was appointed Commissioner of the Anti Corruption Commission in December 2007 and resigned in 2010. He is currently the Executive Director of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa.

He started playing cricket back in his High School days at the Prince of Wales Secondary School and later he was selected to the Sierra Leone national cricket team, and he was part of the team until he retired from playing. He presently own a junior cricket club in Sierra Leone name after him, Abdul Tejan Cole Cricket Team. the team is an affiliate team to the Sierra Leone Cricket Association (SLCA).