By Ishmael Koroma
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Alhaji Minkailu Mansaray, the veteran politician who rose from opposition lawmaker to cabinet minister and eventually became chairman of Sierra Leone’s main opposition party, died on Monday in Dakar, Senegal, setting off an outpouring of grief in a nation where political rivals rarely speak with one voice.
Mansaray, the National Chairman of the All People’s Congress (APC), had been receiving medical treatment in Senegal after a period of illness. He died three days after celebrating his 75th birthday.
His family announced his death in a brief statement rooted in faith and acceptance.
“Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un. With submission to Allah’s will, the family at home and abroad announce the passing of Alhaji Honourable Minkailu Mansaray, which happened today, 15th June 2026,” the statement said.
“May Allah have mercy on him and grant him the highest place in Paradise. Kindly keep him and the family in your prayers. Funeral arrangements will be announced later.”
For many Sierra Leoneans, the death of Mansaray signifies more than the loss of a party chairman. It marks the passing of one of the country’s most consequential political figures — a man whose public life traced Sierra Leone’s own journey through democratic transition, post-war reconstruction and intense partisan competition.
Known affectionately as “Uncle Minks,” Mansaray was widely regarded as one of the APC’s sharpest political minds and most influential strategists. Within the party, he was a source of counsel and continuity. Beyond it, he earned a reputation as a measured politician capable of maintaining relationships across political divides.
The breadth of tributes that followed his death reflected that uncommon standing.
President Julius Maada Bio, leader of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), was among the first to publicly mourn his longtime political rival.
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of the National Chairman of the All People’s Congress, Alhaji Minkailu Mansaray,” President Bio wrote on X.
“Sierra Leone has lost a respected statesman and a great politician whose contributions to our nation’s democratic journey will never be forgotten.”
The president added:
“On behalf of the Government and people of Sierra Leone, and the Sierra Leone People’s Party, I extend my heartfelt condolences to his family, the APC, and all who mourn his demise. May his soul rest in perfect peace.”
The tribute carried particular significance in a country where relations between the APC and the governing SLPP have often been strained, especially in the aftermath of the disputed 2023 elections.
Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh echoed those sentiments.
“I join countless Sierra Leoneans in mourning the passing of Alhaji Minkailu Mansaray, National Chairman of the All People’s Congress,” he wrote.
“Uncle Minks as he was fondly called, was an outstanding politician who dedicated much of his life to serving people. Beyond politics, he was a God-fearing man whose humility, faith, and respect for others earned him admiration across party lines.”
He added that Mansaray’s passing “is a loss not only to his family and the APC, but to Sierra Leone as a whole.”
Born in 1951, Mansaray belonged to a generation of politicians whose careers unfolded during some of Sierra Leone’s defining moments. A graduate of Fourah Bay College, he built an early career in the insurance sector before entering Parliament in 2002 as an APC legislator while the party was rebuilding in opposition.
Following the APC’s return to power under President Ernest Bai Koroma in 2007, Mansaray served as Minister of Labour and Industrial Relations before later becoming Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, overseeing one of the country’s most strategically important sectors during a period of post-war reconstruction and renewed international investment.
He would eventually rise through the party hierarchy to become deputy leader and later National Chairman, helping steer the APC through internal disputes, electoral setbacks and its years back in opposition.
To supporters, he represented stability and loyalty. To critics, he embodied the resilience of an older political establishment. Yet even opponents rarely questioned his commitment to public service or his devotion to the party he served for decades.
Among the most personal tributes came from former Cabinet Minister Dr. Sylvia Olayinka Blyden.
“Alhaji Minkailu Mansaray (Uncle Minks) was the SMARTEST of all the APC Cabinet Ministers that I sat in Cabinet with,” she wrote.
“He was a highly intelligent, quintessential politician who truly understood governance and politics. Always smiling even in times of turmoil. So polite. Hot exchanges but without malice.”
She concluded: “I loved him a lot. Please rest in perfect peace Uncle Minks. APC will miss you but we will hold the fort.”
As condolences poured in, practical arrangements were already underway in Senegal.
Abdul Kargbo, Sierra Leone’s Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, disclosed in a post on Meta that Mansaray’s remains had been transferred to a mortuary in Dakar and preparations had begun to return him home.
“I am departing from Pôle Santé de Dakar Clinique Mixte, one of the leading hospitals in Dakar, to accompany Aunty Kay, the wife of our late Chairman of the All People’s Congress, to her residence in Senegal,” Kargbo wrote.
“The remains of our beloved Chairman have now been taken to the mortuary, while arrangements are underway to convey his body to Sierra Leone for a dignified burial.”
Kargbo described the death as “a painful moment for the APC family and the nation at large” and thanked the Government of Sierra Leone for its support and cooperation throughout the process.
Former Vice President Chief Samuel Sam-Sumana remembered Mansaray as “a leader who stood firm for his beliefs and worked tirelessly for the people of Sierra Leone.”
Across the APC, presidential aspirants, grassroots supporters and longtime associates reflected on the void his death would leave behind. Dr. Ibrahim Bangura described him as “a source of counsel, stability, and institutional memory,” while Sheikh Alhaji Mohamed Omodu Kamara, popularly known as Jagaban, remembered him as “a dedicated leader, a steadfast party stalwart, and a committed servant.”
As news of his passing spread through Sierra Leone and among diaspora communities abroad, tributes continued to arrive from politicians, party loyalists and ordinary citizens.
In death, as in life, Mansaray occupied a singular place in Sierra Leone’s public consciousness: a politician shaped by the country’s triumphs and crises, a party man who nevertheless earned the respect of rivals, and a statesman whose career mirrored the evolution of the republic itself.
He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Mabinty Mansaray, his children and extended family.
For a nation accustomed to political contest, the passing of Alhaji Minkailu Mansaray has offered a rare moment of shared reflection — and a reminder that the figures who shape history often leave behind legacies more enduring than the battles that once defined them.
In mourning “Uncle Minks,” Sierra Leone is also bidding farewell to one of the last towering figures of a political generation that helped shape the country’s modern democratic story.
