Justice Jon Kamanda served as an Appeals Judge of the Special Court for Sierra Leone from 2007 to 2013.
He was educated in Sierra Leone and in the UK. He trained as a Barrister at the Inns of Court School of Law in London, and was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple in 1975. From 1976 to 1980 he worked as State Prosecutor in the Government Law Office, rising to the rank of Senior State Counsel.
In 1980 he entered private practice in criminal law. Justice Kamanda has served as an Appeals Court Justice in the Sierra Leone judiciary since 2004, and is the Presiding Judge in criminal appeals.
He has also served as a High Court Judge in the Civil Division.
In 1982 he was elected to Parliament, and he has served as Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources and Minister of Health, and also as Managing Director of the National Diamond Mining Company (NDMC).
Justice Kamanda previously served three terms as President of the Special Court for Sierra Leone. He was appointed a Judge of the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone in 2013.
He was Vice-President of the Court from 2014 to 2016, and served as President of the Residual Special Court from December 2018 to March 2022.