Chief Minister Sengeh’s Wife Kate Krontiris Receives Sierra Leonean Passport After Citizenship

Kate Krontiris, wife of Chief Minister Dr. David Moinina Sengeh, has received her Sierra Leonean passport, completing the naturalization process she began in February.

Krontiris said her passport is among the first issued through Sierra Leone’s new fully digitized system at the Immigration Department, which aims to improve service delivery, transparency, and accountability.

“As a user experience researcher, I know the process wasn’t without its small hiccups — but that is to be expected. Overall, it reduced my time at the passport office, offered a verified trail of documentation substantiating my request, and ensured that all passport fees were paid centrally into official Government accounts,” she said.

Krontiris was granted citizenship in May, after taking the Oath of Allegiance before President Julius Maada Bio. She said the occasion marked the first time all members of her family shared the same citizenship — that of Sierra Leone.

She first visited Sierra Leone in 2013 with her then-boyfriend, David Sengeh. The family later moved to the country after Sengeh was appointed Chief Innovation Officer. They have two daughters, Nyaanina and Peynina.

Reflecting on the new digital passport process, Krontiris said it reduces trips to the passport office, informal fees, geographic barriers, and lost paperwork.

“Digitization isn’t the same as inclusion — unless it’s built that way. The new process reduces the trips, the informal fees, the geographic barriers, the opaque middlemen, the paper that gets lost. This is inclusion as service delivery,” she said.

Krontiris previously worked with the U.S. Digital Service under President Barack Obama, helping modernize immigrant visa applications.

“I know the unglamorous interior of legacy systems, the institutional gravity pulling everything toward ‘this is how we’ve always done it.’ And I know what it’s like to be the applicant — waiting patiently, sometimes for years, for a government to review a form, grant a request, allow a dream to run its course,” she said.

She expressed gratitude to Sierra Leoneans who helped her feel connected to the country through music, creativity, leadership, and civic engagement.

“Today, I feel profoundly happy, proud, and privileged — and so extremely hopeful for the next chapter ahead,” she stated.