Pateh Bah a Gambian national has been appointed by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) as its new Registrar/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), a report by Channels Television revealed on Friday.
The examination body’s Director of Public Affairs, Mr Abiodun Aduloju confirmed Bah’s apointment in a statement.
According to the statement, the appointment was ratified by the International Governing Board of the WAEC at its 67th Annual Meeting held in Freetown, Sierra Leone in March 2019.
The Gambnia succeeds Dr Iyi Uwadiae from Nigeria and is appointed for a five-year tenure from October 2019 to September 2024.
Bah is a graduate of Pune University, Maharashtra in India from where he obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1997.
The new WAEC boss also holds various postgraduate and professional qualifications from other institutions in India and the United Kingdom.
He worked briefly with the Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports and Culture in Banjul, The Gambia from 1990 to 1991 before he joined the WAEC at its Gambia office on October 9, 1991.
In 2002, Bah was appointed Personal Assistant to the Registrar/CEO after which he relocated to the council’s headquarters in Accra, Ghana.
While at the headquarters, he rose to the position of Principal Assistant Registrar on April 1, 2010, and successfully served as Personal Assistant to two successive Registrars.
Based on a special request by the Board of Directors of the Gambia Office of WAEC – The Gambia Administrative and Finance Committee – Bah was deployed in June 2010 to temporarily take charge of the council’s Banjul office when its headship became vacant.
He was later made the acting Head of National Office for a two-year term from September 2010 to August 2012 and at the expiration of the period, he was appointed the substantive head of the office with effect from October 12, 2012, a position he held until he assumed office as the 13th Registrar to Council on October 1, 2019.
He was a member of the Governing Boards of The Gambia Technical Training Institute and the Gambia National Accreditation & Quality Assurance Authority.
Bah also served as Chairman, Audit Committee of the International Association for Educational Assessment (IAEA) and the present Treasurer of the Association for Educational Assessment in Africa (AEAA), as well as a member representing Africa on the Board of Trustees of the IAEA.
DB/as/APA