The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has appointed Mr. Pateh Bah, from The Gambia, as its new Registrar/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for a five-year tenure – October 2019 to September 2024. He succeeds Dr. Iyi Uwadiae, from Nigeria. Mr. Pateh Bah is a graduate of Pune University, Maharashtra, India from where he obtained a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1997.

He also holds various postgraduate and professional qualifications from other institutions in India and the UK. Mr. Bah 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 its Gambia National Office on October 9, 1991. In 2002, he was appointed as Personal Assistant to the Registrar/CEO and he consequently, 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. He diligently 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 – Mr. Pateh Bah was deployed in June 2010 to temporarily take charge of the Gambia National Office when its headship fell vacant. Due to his effectiveness in the position, he was later made the Acting Head of National Office for a two-year term from September 2010 to August 2012.

At the expiration of the acting period and in view of his consistently impressive performance, Mr. Bah 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. His appointment to the position of Registrar was ratified by Council – the International Governing Board of WAEC – at its 67th Annual Meeting held in Freetown, Sierra Leone in March 2019.

Mr. Bah has made appreciable contribution to the development of education. He was a member of the Governing Boards of the Gambia Technical Training Institute and the Gambia National Accreditation & Quality Assurance Authority. He has served as Chairman, Audit Committee of the International Association for Educational Assessment (IAEA). He is also currently the Treasurer of the Association for Educational Assessment in Africa (AEAA), and a member representing Africa on the Board of Trustees of the IAEA.

Mr. Pateh Bah is married and has children.