Charlie Haffner is the immediate outgone chairman of the Monuments and Relics Commission of Sierra Leone. Prior to his appointment, he was a member of the erstwhile Commission, he brought to the table over 35 years of experience in the field of cultural heritage and theatre arts. The Parliament of Sierra Leone endorsed him as the Chairman of the Commission on Thursday 2nd August, 2018 following his appointment by President Julius Maada Bio.Soon after assuming this position, Mr Haffner said he was willing to work with other players to make the monuments and relics of Sierra Leone as enviable as possible.Some members of Parliament described his appointment as one of the best in the history of Sierra Leone owing to his unique sense of cultural awareness and dedicated years of promoting the country’s culture and heritage under the aegis of his cultural institution, Fritong Players International. Charlie Haffner was challenged to preserve the nation’s battered cultural and heritage resources.“Unless an uncompromising commitment to the restoration of cultural heritage resources was pursued, Sierra Leone’s historic assets would hardly be comprehensively restored by the next decade. They had suffered years of neglect and deterioration aggravated by massive destruction during the decade long civil conflict. Over the years, low budgetary allocation has not helped the situation. The intangible culture like its tangible counterpart were under attack by cultural imperialism, globalization, modern civilization and technology.” Remarked the new chair.The new administration pledged to overhaul the situation. President Bio promised to diversify the economy through tourism, agriculture and marine resources.

As a playwright and traditional communicator, he has worked extensively to use drama as tool for education and development and to advance Sierra Leone’s post-war reconciliation. His most recent play is the epic historical drama, ‘A Nation’s journey.’He served as chair of the Commission from 2018-2021 but later resigned even though he was qualified for reappointment. Throughout his tenure, no other commissioners were appointment to work with him at the Monuments and Relics Commission.