Hillary Sao Kanu
Sierra Leonean police officer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hillary Sao Kanu is a senior Sierra Leonean police officer who has served as Commissioner of Police of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) since 2023.
Hillary Sao Kanu | |
|---|---|
Hillary Sao Kanu in 2023 | |
| Commissioner of Police of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia | |
| Assumed office 2 March 2023 | |
| Personal details | |
| Profession | Police officer |
Life
Hillary Sao Kanu studied at the Fourah Bay College of the University of Sierra Leone and passed a bachelor's degree in Social Work.[1] In July 1992, she joined the Sierra Leone Police as an investigator and was enlisted in the special branch in 1993.[2] In 2007, she became head of the Sierra Leone Police Media Unit.[3] Between 2008 and 2009, she worked in Darfur for the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Mission (UNAMID), where she was first a United Nations police officer then worked at the headquarters of the mission in Elfashia.[2][4]
She worked as a local unit commander in Kissy then at the Sierra Leone Police headquarters as the Director of Support Services and a police commander of the Bo District.[1][4][5] She is also the first woman to be a regional police commander.[6]
Her role for ATMIS started on 2 March 2023 with the aim to maintain security and stability in Somalia, train the local police force and provide equipment.[7][8] In July, she awarded several medals to Nigerian police officers who completed their tour.[9] She praised Sierra Leonean police officers who took part in the peace effort in Somalia during their ATMIS mission.[10][11] She oversaw various trainings for the Somali Police Force.[12] She also focuses her effort on terrorist threats such as al-Shabab.[13][14]