Ambassador Alhaji Fanday Turay is the Minister of Transport and Aviation. Before his current appointment, he was the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Sierra Leone to the United Nations, and also concurrently serves as the Sierra Leone Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Argentina, Cuba, Mexico, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Turay served as Security Adviser at the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force in Syria. He has 14 years’ experience in peacekeeping with the UN, working in Liberia, Ethiopia, the Africa Union operations in Mali, the Central Africa Republic and Somalia. He was Chairman of the National Commission for Privatisation in Sierra Leone, where he provided strategic leadership for the Commission’s supervision of the privatisation programme and restructuring of public enterprises Sierra Leone to attract direct private investment in the National Development Bank, the Postal Services, the Airport Authority, the Telecommunications Company, the Road Transport Corporation, and the Housing and Infrastructure Corporation. A lawyer by training (barrister and solicitor of the High Court of Sierra Leone), he holds a bachelor of laws degree; graduate degrees in international transport and maritime law and in international affairs; post graduate certificate in strategic planning for security development, quality force management, conflict, and crisis and defence management.