The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has appointed Mr Pateh Bah as its new Registrar/Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The examination body disclosed this in a statement on Thursday by its Director of Public Affairs, Mr Abiodun Aduloju.

According to the statement, the appointment was ratified by the International Governing Board of WAEC at its 67th Annual Meeting held in Freetown, Sierra Leone in March 2019.

Bah from the Gambia succeeds Dr Iyi Uwadiae from Nigeria and is appointed for a five-year tenure from October 2019 to September 2024.

He 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, Banjul, The Gambia from 1990 to 1991 before he joined the service of WAEC at the Gambia National Office on October 9, 1991.

In 2002, Bah was appointed as 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 Gambia National Office when its headship fell 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.