PROFILE OF HONOURABLE OSMAN ABDAL TIMBO ESQ
Osman Abdal Timbo Esq. is a Sierra Leonean politician, lawyer and humanitarian. He was born on the 17th of October, 1985 at Murray Town, Freetown, in the Western Area of the Republic of Sierra Leone. He is a Fula by ethnicity and a Muslim, by religion. He was born to Abdulai Bapatheh Timbo Ph.D. (deceased), former Chief Justice of the Republic of Sierra Leone and Haja Ramatu Timbo, a retired Nurse and an Entrepreneur. He is the youngest son of his father, the only son of his mother and the ninth child of eleven children.
Early Years(Education)
Osman Timbo attended several kindergartens in Freetown, but, he however started his primary school education at the Mereweather Preparatory School and completed at the Tower Hill Municipal School, where he sat to the National Primary School Examination (NPSE). He proceeded to the Sierra Leone Grammar School where he did his secondary schooling. Growing up as a smart and brilliant kid, he did not go through the said school unnoticed, he left an indelible impression in the hearts of his teachers. He demonstrated a stellar academic performance and was a member of the school’s quiz team, a House Captain, a member of the French and Drama Clubs, respectively, the first president of the school’s Integrity Club and ultimately, a School Prefect.
Early Years
Career
Upon completing of his secondary schooling, he got admitted to Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone in 2003, where he studied Law and subsequently attained a Bachelor of Laws (with Honours) Degree in 2007. Being a young man who had designed his path for leadership, he did not just bag a degree and leave, he ensured his name was synonymous to meaningful contributions on the soils of Fourah Bay College – he became a member of several notable organizations on campus. Chief among them are: the Human Rights Club, Auradicals Club, Law Society and Students’ Representative Council (Students’ Parliament). During his days on Fourah Bay College, he also ran as a candidate for the position of Secretary General of Solomon Caulker Hall (Green House). In 2008, he graduated from the university and was eventually admitted into the Sierra Leone Law School in October, 2008.
Having performed outstandingly well in the Bar Final Examination and fulfilling the requirements of the Legal Profession in Sierra Leone, Osman Abdal Timbo was officially called to the Sierra Leone Bar as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of Sierra Leone in 2008. He started his career as a legal practitioner as a National Legal Associate with the Defence Team at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, where he worked from 2008 to 2009. He did his Pupillage with Shears-Moses & Co. Solicitors, under the direct tutelage of Emanuel Shears-Moses Esq. as his Pupil Master, a renowned legal practitioner in Sierra Leone.
Career
Notable Associations
Honourable Osman Timbo joined the team at the Pilot National Legal Aid Scheme for Sierra Leone and he was instrumental in the development and drafting of the Legal Aid Act, 2010. In 2012, he joined Solomon Jamiru & Co. Solicitors (later renamed J&T Solicitors) as a Partner and there he engaged in a plethora of civil, criminal and human rights litigations. In 2014, he was appointed Legal Adviser to the Public Private Partnership Unit, in the Office of the President, from 2014 to 2017 and he contributed in the drafting of the Public Private Partnership Act, 2014. He was also the Bar Association’s Representative in the Board of the National Commission for Privatisation, from 2015 to 2017. Having acquired so much knowledge and experience in the legal profession, he eventually set up his own Law Firm in 2018, which he registered as ABT Law and ultimately became the Head of Chambers of same.
Notable Associations
Politics
Honourable Timbo formally joined national politics in 2012, when he registered and became a member of the National Youth League of the All Peoples Congress (APC) Party - the then ruling Party. He was among the youths who worked assiduously in ensuring the APC wins the 2012 Presidential, General and Local Council Elections. In 2013, he became the Deputy Western Area Regional Youth Leader and National Youth League Executive Secretary. Later, he declared his intention to run for the Parliamentary Elections. He won his Party’s nomination and was given the APC Symbol to contest for the election. He subsequently contested and won the parliamentary seat in Constituency 130 in Freetown, in the 2018 Parliamentary Elections, with a landslide victory over his opponent, as he garnered an unprecedented number of votes in his said constituency, despite his party losing the presidential election. During his time in the well of Parliament, he was recognized as one of the most eloquent and brilliant members of Parliament, representing the ‘majority opposition party’, which had more seats than the ruling government. Most unfortunately, on the 31st of May 2019, he was among the ten (10) Members of Parliament who were ousted from parliament and replaced by members of the ruling government, who they contested with and won against, in the March 2018 general elections. Though he has lost his seat in parliament, he has not given up on working for and with his constituents, his political party and the nation, as a whole. He was the principal draftsman of the APC 2022 Constitution and is presently vying for the position of Deputy National Secretary General of APC, as he looks forward to re-contesting for his parliamentary seat in the 2023 Parliamentary Elections.
Politics
Awards/Recognitions
Being recognized as an active debater in the well of Parliament, he was appointed as a member of several committees. He served as the Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Committee, a member of the Public Accounts Committee, the Energy Committee, the Tertiary and Higher Education Committee and the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Apart from debating, Honourable Timbo also made notable contributions during his stay in Parliament, which include scrutinizing government ministries, departments and agencies on audit queries in the Auditor General’s Yearly Audit Reports and the 2018 Forensic Audit Report, through the Public Accounts Committee; chairing the Parliamentary Legislative Committee on the Anti–Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2019 and representing Sierra Leone in the 139th Assembly of the Inter–Parliamentary Union. In his political life, he prides himself most in his contributions to and his relationship with his constituency, ranging from infrastructural developments, legal and political representation, advocacy on socio–economic challenges, grant of educational and religious scholarships, mentorship, etc. He is an Alumnus of the Mandela Washington Fellowship, the Barrack Obama Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), International Lawyers for Africa (ILFA) and the SOAS/Mo Ibrahim Residential School on Governance and Development in Africa. He also participated in the United Nations Regional Courses in International Law and has attended several other international trainings and conferences on youth empowerment. Honourable Timbo continues to serve as the man of the people, one who commands utmost admiration and respect among his peers and the younger generation. He is an icon and a role model to many young people in and out of Sierra Leone, as he has carried himself with dignity and humility.
Awards
Family
Honourable Timbo is married to his beautiful wife, Adama Osman-Timbo (Nee Shaw) and they presently have two (2) loving and adorable children.
Family