Murietta Patricia Olu-Williams, OBE (Metzger; born 15 December 1923) was a Sierra Leonean civil servant, the first woman in Africa to achieve the rank of Permanent Secretary in the Civil Service.[1] [2]
Murietta Olu-Williams was born on 15 December 1923, the only daughter of Dr. G. N. Metzger, a Freetown doctor of Creole heritage.[3] She was educated at the Freetown Secondary School for Girls,[4] where she was a pupil of Hannah Benka-Coker.[1]
In 1950 she joined the Civil Service as a supervising teacher for the Sierra Leonean Ministry of Education. In 1962 she transferred from the professional to the administrative service, becoming the first female Permanent Secretary.[1] She served in three ministries in this capacity. While at the Ministry of Transport and Communication, she pioneered the creation of parastatals: the Road Transport Co-operation and the Sierra Leone Ports Authority.[4]
In 1966 she was awarded an OBE for her services as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Communications. On 25 August 1969 she was admitted to the Middle Temple.[3]