Ernest Bai Koroma
Encyclopedia
Ernest Bai Koroma is the fourth and current President of Sierra Leone
. He was sworn in as President on 17 September 2007 at the State House in the capital Freetown
, shortly after being declared the winner of a tense run-off
in the 2007 Sierra Leone presidential election
with 54.6% of the vote over the incumbent
Vice President Solomon Berewa
of the then ruling Sierra Leone People's Party
(SLPP) who gain 45.4% and conceded defeat http://news.sl/drwebsite/exec/view.cgi?archive=4&num=6516. International and local observers assed the election as free, fair and credible http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6943541.stm. Koroma succeeded the outgoing president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah
who was ineligible to run after serving the maximum two five year term limit
.
Koroma is the leader of the ruling All People's Congress
(APC) party and had previously served as the APC minority leader
in the Parliament of Sierra Leone
representing his home district of Bombali
from 2002 until his election to the Presidency on September 17, 2007. He is a 1976 graduate of the Fourah Bay College
with a degree in Business Management. Koroma is Sierra Leone's first Head of State
from the Temne ethnic group. He speaks four languages: English
, Krio
, Temne
, and Limba.
In 2002 then mostly unknown by the general population, Koroma ran for president in the 2002 Sierra Leone Presidential election. He received 22.3% of the vote as the APC presidential candidate, losing in a landslide
to the incumbent
President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone People's Party
(SLPP), who received 70.1% and was very popular across the country after he was credited for ending the civil war
.
An insurance executive by professore, Koroma spent over twenty four years working in the private insurance industry before entering politics in 2001. From 1988 to 2002, Koroma was the Managing Director of the Reliance Insurance Trust Corporation (Ritcorp), one of the largest private insurance companies in Sierra Leone.
On September 4, 2008, Koroma became the first Head of State of Sierra Leone to declare his assets to the Sierra Leone Anti-corruption Commission
and signed into law the country's new Anti-Corruption Bill of 2008 at the State House in Freetown. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7592577.stm http://www.sierraherald.com/declaration.htm. Under the new law, it is compulsory for the president and other government officials to declare their assets and update them annually.
On April 16, 2009, Koroma was re-elected unopposed by the APC as the party's presidential candidate in the 2012 Sierra Leone presidential election
at the APC National Delegates convention
held in the northern city of Makeni
.
, Bombali District
in the Northern Province
of Sierra Leone
. Koroma was born of christian
parentage from the predominant Muslim
north and a devout Christian himself. Koroma's father Sylvanus Fornah Koroma (commonly known as Pa Sylvanus Koroma) was an ethnic Temne and a native of Makeni. Pa Sylvanus was a very religious christian and he spent years working as a bible school teacher at the Wesleyan Church in Makeni http://www.sierraherald.com/shekito-crawler.htmhttp://www.newstimeafrica.com/archives/tag/pa-sylvanus-koroma. Koroma's father, Pa Sylvanus Koroma was also a strong supporter of president Siaka Stevens
' government. Ernest Bai Koroma's mother Maddam Alice Evelyn Koroma is an ethnic Limba
from the small rural town of Kamabai
, Bombali District
. Maddam Alice Koroma spent almost her entire career working as a primary school teacher
in Makeni. Koroma is considered an ethnic Temne due to his father's ethnic group.
Koroma was raised in a deeply religious Christian
household in Makeni. Koroma regularly attended church services with his siblings at the Wesleyan church in Makeni, where his parents were long time members of the congregation
.
Koroma attended the Sierra Leone Church Primary School in Makeni, and then proceeded to the Magburaka Government Secondary School for Boys
in Magburaka
, Tonkolili District
, (about 26 miles from his hometown of Makeni) where he graduated in 1973. Upon graduation from secondary school, Koroma moved to the capital Freetown
to attend the Fourah Bay College
. He graduated from the Fourah Bay College in 1976 with a degree
in Business Management.
Soon After graduating from the Fourah Bay College, Koroma was briefly employed as a teacher at the St. Francis Secondary School in his hometown of Makeni.
Koroma joined the Sierra Leone National Insurance Company in 1978. In 1985, he joined the Reliance Insurance Trust Corporation (Ritcorp), and in 1988, he became Managing Director of Ritcorp, remaining in that position for 14 years.
, the daughter of former Sierra Leone's Attorney General
Abu Aiah Koroma
. Sia Nyama Koroma is a biochemist
and an ethnic Kono
from Kono District
. Sia Koroma holds a Bachelor of Science
with Honours in Chemistry
and a Masters in Biochemistry
. She is also a Psychiatric Staff Nurse trained and qualified in Great Britain. The couple were married on October 18, 1986 at the King Memorial UMC Church in Freetown
http://www.firstladysl.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26. Together they have two daughters, Alice and Danke Koroma. The first daughter Alice Koroma was born in Freetown and she is named after Maddam Alice Koroma, the mother of Ernest Bai Koroma. The second daughter Danke Koroma was born in London
and she is named after Danke Evelyn Koroma, the mother of Koroma's wife Sia Nyama Koroma. Both of his daughters are attending university in the United Kingdom
.
at the APC National Delegates convention
held in Makeni
. Several senior members of the country's main opposition party the Sierra Leone People's Party
(SLPP) and the country's third major party the PMDC
were invited as special guests at the convention to promote peace and National Reconciliation
across the country, following the tense general elections in 2007. Those in attendance at the convention included John Oponjo Benjamin
, the leader of the main opposition the SLPP; and Charles Francis Margai
, the Leader of the country's third major party the PMDC. http://sierraleoneagenda.org/articles/2009/apr_2009/article_20090418_1.aspx forAPC leadership
In January, 2002 it was announced that the All People's Congress (APC) would hold their convention
to elect a new leader that would challenge president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of the SLPP who faces re-election for a second five year term. Ernest Bai Koroma, then an Insurance broker
from the northern district of Bombali who was virtually unknown in Sierra Leone announced his candidacy for the leadership of the All People's Congress (APC) ahead of the 2002 Sierra Leone presidential and parliamentary elections. He was one of seven candidates for the APC leadership.
Koroma was a clear underdog
to long time APC leader Edward Turay
who was the favorite and was expected to easily win the APC leadership yet again. Koroma stressed that under the APC leadership of Edward Turay, the party had lost a significant number of seats in parliament and had lost trust among Sierra Leoneans, even in its traditional stronghold in Northern Sierra Leone. Koroma said the party will continue to lose even more support unless the party moves to a new direction that will care more about the interest of Sierra Leoneans.
Koroma was elected leader of the All People's Congress (APC) on March 24, 2002, at a national convention
of the party held in the northern town of Kabala
, Koinadugu District
ahead of the 2002 Sierra Leone Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. Koroma received received 370 votes from APC delegates, while 12 delegates voted against him and the remainder abstained.
to incumbent
President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone People's Party
(SLPP), who received 70.1% and was shortly sworn in for a new five year term. In the parliamentary election, Koroma was elected to a seat from Bombali District.
. The internal party dispute was said to be resolved in April 2007, mainly between Koroma and Edward Turay, with Koroma being accepted by APC dissidents as the party's leader ahead of the 2007 general election.
Under his leadership, the APC swept virtually all the seats in the Western Area and the Northern Province
during the local government elections of 2004. This was in spite of the fact that some of the old guard of the APC dismissed his leadership as a matter of child's play.
after the Civil War
, fighting corruption, improving the country's health care system
. In April 2010, Koroma sign into law the country's free health care program for pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under the age of five. Koroma has focused on free-market solutions, attracting more private investment.
Koroma has given the country's anti-corruption commision more powers to investigate and prosecute corrupt officials. Since coming to power in 2007, Koroma has dismissed several government ministers associated with corruption, including two of his ministers indicted on corruption charges by the Sierra Leone anti-corruption commision.
Tony Blair
continuing to work closely with the Sierra Leone government and speak out for investment in Sierra Leone. At Koroma's request, Blair created a nine person board to advise the government on foreign investment. The UK continues to be the largest donor to Sierra Leone, giving more money per person than to any other nation, and promising to raise aid by a further 50 million pounds sterling in 2010...
Although peace has surely come to Sierra Leone, President Koroma was still thankful to Tony Blair for such an immense role he played in securing peace for Sierra Leone, something he acknowledged the Sierra Leone media and many here will never forget; http://www.articlesbase.com/news-and-society-articles/tony-blair-sierra-leone-legacy-1046750.html. The Everlasting Legacy of Tony Blair in Sierra Leone], By Muctaru Wurie. In a recent BBC report http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news/2009/08/090803_sierraleone.shtml by Humphrey Hawksley, some British diplomats and aid workers raised concerns about the slow pace of development in the country stressing on the problem of corruption, and asking whether almost a decade after the war - British military and post-war aid assistance has gone in vain as the country still struggle with poverty and massive unemployment.
its head immediately after his election. The government has spoken of transitioning from large scale aid to private investment in the nation, sought to boost the nascent Tourist industry
, signed deals for more extensive Mobile phone
service, began a wide scale public sector reform program aimed at cutting government waste, and given greater powers to the government Ombudsman.
.
Koroma was the APC presidential candidate in the August 2007 general election
. His main rival for the presidency of Sierra Leone was incumbent Vice-President Solomon Berewa
of the SLPP. Koroma stronghold was in Northern Sierra Leone, and in the Western Area of Sierra Leone. Berewa, on the other hand, maintained strong support in south-eastern Sierra Leone.
Koroma was allegedly the target of an assassination
attempt in the early hours of July 23, 2007 in Bo
, Sierra Leone's second largest city (a traditional stronghold of the SLPP), when, according to the APC, a group of armed men led by Tom Nyuma
, who was a participant in the 1992 coup that ousted the APC from power, attempted to enter Koroma's hotel room to kill him. Nyuma was severely beaten by Koroma's guards, and he was hospitalized as a result. According to another version of events, however, there was no assassination attempt and the claim was invented to justify the beating of Nyuma.
of the ruling SLPP, who received 38.3%. This was not enough to win outright, and a run-off election was held on September 8.
In an interview with Reuters
on September 13, Koroma said that he wanted to run the country "like a business concern", emphasize agriculture
and tourism
rather than mining, and fight firmly against corruption.
On September 17, the Sierra Leone National Electoral Commission declared Koroma to be the winner of the election with 54.6% of the vote, although the SLPP disputed the results. He was sworn in later on the same day at a ceremony attended by Berewa and Kabbah.
On September 21, Koroma left Sierra Leone for a diplomatic visit to neighboring Guinea
and Liberia
, his first trip outside the country as President.
Koroma took a notably long time to name his Cabinet ministers, doing so in stages. The first group of 10 ministers was named on October 8, and another 10 were named on October 12. According to Koroma, he was willing to take additional time to find the right people; others, however, speculated that the delay was due to maneuvering within the APC for Cabinet positions.
Koroma promised zero tolerance on corruption
, to fight against the mismanagement of the country's resources and that he "would run Sierra Leone like a business concern", emphasizing agriculture
and tourism
. He further promised his government will increase the GDP per capita; reduce poverty
and increase jobs; pledged the provision of electricity not only in the urban areas, but to all parts of Sierra Leone.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by several African Head of State
and representatives of other world leaders and organizations, including Nigerian president Umaru Yar'Adua, Liberia
n president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade
, Gambia
n president Yahya Jammeh
, Burkina Faso
's president Blaise Compaoré
, Mali
an president Amadou Toumani Touré
, Guinean Prime Minister
Lansana Kouyaté
and United States Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer
.
(APC) party and opposition Sierra Leone People's Party
(SLPP) erupted in Freetown and the country's second largest city of Bo
in the run up to municipal elections, with ruling party supporters charged with attacking opposition members and journalists. Koroma promised to crack down on such violence.
President of Sierra Leone
The President of the Republic of Sierra Leone is the head of state and the head of government of Sierra Leone, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces...
. He was sworn in as President on 17 September 2007 at the State House in the capital Freetown
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
, shortly after being declared the winner of a tense run-off
Two-round system
The two-round system is a voting system used to elect a single winner where the voter casts a single vote for their chosen candidate...
in the 2007 Sierra Leone presidential election
Sierra Leonean general election, 2007
Presidential and parliamentary elections were held in Sierra Leone on 11 August 2007. Seven candidates competed in the first round of the presidential election; no candidate received the necessary 55% of the vote to win in the first round, and a second round was held between the top two candidates,...
with 54.6% of the vote over the incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Vice President Solomon Berewa
Solomon Berewa
Solomon Ekuma Dominic Berewa was Vice-President of Sierra Leone from May 2002 to September 2007...
of the then ruling Sierra Leone People's Party
Sierra Leone People's Party
Sierra Leone People's Party is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, along with the All People's Congress .-Formation:...
(SLPP) who gain 45.4% and conceded defeat http://news.sl/drwebsite/exec/view.cgi?archive=4&num=6516. International and local observers assed the election as free, fair and credible http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6943541.stm. Koroma succeeded the outgoing president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah
Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah served as President of Sierra Leone from 1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2007.He worked for the United Nations Development Programme and returned to Sierra Leone in 1992...
who was ineligible to run after serving the maximum two five year term limit
Term limit
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method to curb the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for...
.
Koroma is the leader of the ruling All People's Congress
All People's Congress
The All People's Congress is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, the other is the Sierra Leone People's Party . The party was founded in 1960 by Pa Mucktarru Kallay, Allieu Badarr Koroma,Alhaji Sheik Gibril Sesay C A Kamara-Taylor, S A T Koroma and Abu Bakarr S Bangura...
(APC) party and had previously served as the APC minority leader
Minority leader
In U.S. politics, the minority leader is the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative body. Given the two-party nature of the U.S. system, the minority leader is almost inevitably either a Republican or a Democrat, with their counterpart being of the opposite party. The position...
in the Parliament of Sierra Leone
Parliament of Sierra Leone
The unicameral Parliament of Sierra Leone is the country's legislative body. It is sometimes known as the House of Representatives.The current Parliament, formed following elections held on 14 May 2002, has a total of 124 members. 112 members are directly elected in multi-member constituencies...
representing his home district of Bombali
Bombali District
Bombali District is district in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. It's capital and largest city is Makeni, which is also the fifth largest city in Sierra Leone and the largest city in the north. The other major towns in the district include Kamakwie, Kamabai, Masingbi and Binkolo...
from 2002 until his election to the Presidency on September 17, 2007. He is a 1976 graduate of the Fourah Bay College
Fourah Bay College
Fourah Bay College is the oldest university college in West Africa. It is located atop Mount Aureol in Freetown, Sierra Leone...
with a degree in Business Management. Koroma is Sierra Leone's first Head of State
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
from the Temne ethnic group. He speaks four languages: English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Krio
Krio language
Sierra Leone Krio is the lingua franca and the de facto national language spoken throughout the West African nation of Sierra Leone. Krio is spoken by 97% of Sierra Leone's population and unites the different ethnic groups in the country, especially in their trade and social interaction with each...
, Temne
Temne language
Temne is a language of the Atlantic subfamily of Niger–Congo languages spoken in Sierra Leone by about 2 million first speakers. One of the country's most widely spoken languages, it is spoken by 30% of the country’s population...
, and Limba.
In 2002 then mostly unknown by the general population, Koroma ran for president in the 2002 Sierra Leone Presidential election. He received 22.3% of the vote as the APC presidential candidate, losing in a landslide
Landslide
A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...
to the incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone People's Party
Sierra Leone People's Party
Sierra Leone People's Party is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, along with the All People's Congress .-Formation:...
(SLPP), who received 70.1% and was very popular across the country after he was credited for ending the civil war
Sierra Leone Civil War
The Sierra Leone Civil War began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front , with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia , intervened in Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government...
.
An insurance executive by professore, Koroma spent over twenty four years working in the private insurance industry before entering politics in 2001. From 1988 to 2002, Koroma was the Managing Director of the Reliance Insurance Trust Corporation (Ritcorp), one of the largest private insurance companies in Sierra Leone.
On September 4, 2008, Koroma became the first Head of State of Sierra Leone to declare his assets to the Sierra Leone Anti-corruption Commission
Sierra Leone Anti-corruption Commission
The Sierra Leone Anti-corruption Commission was established by the Anti-Corruption Act passed by the Sierra Leone Parliament in 2000. It supersedes the 1960 Prevention of Corruption Act.-Formation:...
and signed into law the country's new Anti-Corruption Bill of 2008 at the State House in Freetown. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7592577.stm http://www.sierraherald.com/declaration.htm. Under the new law, it is compulsory for the president and other government officials to declare their assets and update them annually.
On April 16, 2009, Koroma was re-elected unopposed by the APC as the party's presidential candidate in the 2012 Sierra Leone presidential election
Sierra Leonean general election, 2012
Sometime in 2012, Sierra Leone will hold a general election. In April 2009, Ernest Bai Koroma was chosen by the ruling All People's Congress party as their candidate for the 2012 campaign for President. The Sierra Leone People's Party's candidate will be former general Julius Maada Bio....
at the APC National Delegates convention
Political convention
In politics, a political convention is a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates.In the United States, a political convention usually refers to a presidential nominating convention, but it can also refer to state, county, or congressional district nominating conventions...
held in the northern city of Makeni
Makeni
Makeni is the largest city in the Nortern Province of Sierra Leone and the fifth largest city in Sierra Leone. The city is the capital of Bombali District and had a population of 80,840 in the 2004 census and a current estimate of 105,900...
.
Early life and education
Ernest Bai Koroma was born on October 2, 1953, in MakeniMakeni
Makeni is the largest city in the Nortern Province of Sierra Leone and the fifth largest city in Sierra Leone. The city is the capital of Bombali District and had a population of 80,840 in the 2004 census and a current estimate of 105,900...
, Bombali District
Bombali District
Bombali District is district in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. It's capital and largest city is Makeni, which is also the fifth largest city in Sierra Leone and the largest city in the north. The other major towns in the district include Kamakwie, Kamabai, Masingbi and Binkolo...
in the Northern Province
Northern Province, Sierra Leone
The Northern Province is one of the four provincial divisions of Sierra Leone. It comprises five Districts and covers an area of 35,936 km² and with a population of 1,718,240 . Its administrative and economic center is Makeni...
of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
. Koroma was born of christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
parentage from the predominant Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
north and a devout Christian himself. Koroma's father Sylvanus Fornah Koroma (commonly known as Pa Sylvanus Koroma) was an ethnic Temne and a native of Makeni. Pa Sylvanus was a very religious christian and he spent years working as a bible school teacher at the Wesleyan Church in Makeni http://www.sierraherald.com/shekito-crawler.htmhttp://www.newstimeafrica.com/archives/tag/pa-sylvanus-koroma. Koroma's father, Pa Sylvanus Koroma was also a strong supporter of president Siaka Stevens
Siaka Stevens
Siaka Probyn Stevens was the 3rd prime minister of Sierra Leone from 1967–1971 and the 1st president of Sierra Leone from 1971–1985. Stevens is generally criticised for dictatorial methods of government in which many of his political opponents were executed, as well as for mismanaging...
' government. Ernest Bai Koroma's mother Maddam Alice Evelyn Koroma is an ethnic Limba
Limba people (Sierra Leone)
The Limba people is a major ethnic group in the Republic of Sierra Leone. They form the third largest ethnic group in the country, about 8.5% of Sierra Leone's total population ....
from the small rural town of Kamabai
Kamabai
Kamabai is a town in Bombali District in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone, with a population of 11,842 in the 2004 census . The town is about 26 miles northeast of Makeni...
, Bombali District
Bombali District
Bombali District is district in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. It's capital and largest city is Makeni, which is also the fifth largest city in Sierra Leone and the largest city in the north. The other major towns in the district include Kamakwie, Kamabai, Masingbi and Binkolo...
. Maddam Alice Koroma spent almost her entire career working as a primary school teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
in Makeni. Koroma is considered an ethnic Temne due to his father's ethnic group.
Koroma was raised in a deeply religious Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
household in Makeni. Koroma regularly attended church services with his siblings at the Wesleyan church in Makeni, where his parents were long time members of the congregation
Local church
A local church is a Christian congregation of members and clergy.Local church may also refer to:* Local churches , a Christian group based on the teachings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, and associated with the Living Stream Ministry publishing house.* Parish church, a local church united with...
.
Koroma attended the Sierra Leone Church Primary School in Makeni, and then proceeded to the Magburaka Government Secondary School for Boys
Government Secondary School for Boys
Magburaka Government Secondary School for Boys is a government-sponsored secondary school based in Magburaka, in the Tonkolili District, Sierra Leone. The school is one of the oldest secondary schools in Sierra Leone...
in Magburaka
Magburaka
Magburaka is the capital and largest city of Tonkolili District in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. It is the second largest city in the Northern Province after Makeni and the 6th largest city in Sierra Leone with a population of 66,313 It is located at around , along the Rokel River...
, Tonkolili District
Tonkolili District
Tonkolili District is a district in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is Magburaka. The other major towns include Mathora, Magbass, Yonibana and Mile 91...
, (about 26 miles from his hometown of Makeni) where he graduated in 1973. Upon graduation from secondary school, Koroma moved to the capital Freetown
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
to attend the Fourah Bay College
Fourah Bay College
Fourah Bay College is the oldest university college in West Africa. It is located atop Mount Aureol in Freetown, Sierra Leone...
. He graduated from the Fourah Bay College in 1976 with a degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
in Business Management.
Soon After graduating from the Fourah Bay College, Koroma was briefly employed as a teacher at the St. Francis Secondary School in his hometown of Makeni.
Koroma joined the Sierra Leone National Insurance Company in 1978. In 1985, he joined the Reliance Insurance Trust Corporation (Ritcorp), and in 1988, he became Managing Director of Ritcorp, remaining in that position for 14 years.
Marriage and family
Koroma is married to Sia Nyama KoromaSia Koroma
Sia Nyama Koroma is a Sierra Leonean biochemist and psychiatric nurse. She is the wife of Sierra Leone's president Ernest Bai Koroma and the daughter of former Sierra Leone's attorney general Abu Aiah Koroma...
, the daughter of former Sierra Leone's Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
Abu Aiah Koroma
Abu Aiah Koroma
Abu Aiah Koroma was a lawyer and politician in Sierra Leone. Koroma began his political career as Attorney General in 1967 and 1968. He returned to government in 1976 when he became Managing Director of the National Diamond Mining Company until 1987. In 1991 and 1992, Koroma was the Minister of...
. Sia Nyama Koroma is a biochemist
Biochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. Typical biochemists study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. The prefix of "bio" in "biochemist" can be understood as a fusion of "biological chemist."-Role:...
and an ethnic Kono
Kono people
The Kono people is a major ethnic group in Sierra Leone at about 7.6% of the country's total population. Their homeland is the diamond-rich Kono District in south-eastern Sierra Leone. They form by far the single largest ethnic group in the district at about 52% of the population...
from Kono District
Kono District
Kono District is a district in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is Koidu Town. The other major towns in the district include Yengema, Tombodu, Motema, Jaiama-Nimokoro and Sewafe. Kono District is the largest diamond producer in Sierra Leone.The population of Kono...
. Sia Koroma holds a Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
with Honours in Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
and a Masters in Biochemistry
Biochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
. She is also a Psychiatric Staff Nurse trained and qualified in Great Britain. The couple were married on October 18, 1986 at the King Memorial UMC Church in Freetown
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
http://www.firstladysl.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=26. Together they have two daughters, Alice and Danke Koroma. The first daughter Alice Koroma was born in Freetown and she is named after Maddam Alice Koroma, the mother of Ernest Bai Koroma. The second daughter Danke Koroma was born in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and she is named after Danke Evelyn Koroma, the mother of Koroma's wife Sia Nyama Koroma. Both of his daughters are attending university in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
2009 APC Convention
On April 16, 2009, Koroma was re-elected unopposed by the APC as the party's presidential candidate in the 2012 Sierra Leone presidential electionSierra Leonean general election, 2012
Sometime in 2012, Sierra Leone will hold a general election. In April 2009, Ernest Bai Koroma was chosen by the ruling All People's Congress party as their candidate for the 2012 campaign for President. The Sierra Leone People's Party's candidate will be former general Julius Maada Bio....
at the APC National Delegates convention
Political convention
In politics, a political convention is a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates.In the United States, a political convention usually refers to a presidential nominating convention, but it can also refer to state, county, or congressional district nominating conventions...
held in Makeni
Makeni
Makeni is the largest city in the Nortern Province of Sierra Leone and the fifth largest city in Sierra Leone. The city is the capital of Bombali District and had a population of 80,840 in the 2004 census and a current estimate of 105,900...
. Several senior members of the country's main opposition party the Sierra Leone People's Party
Sierra Leone People's Party
Sierra Leone People's Party is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, along with the All People's Congress .-Formation:...
(SLPP) and the country's third major party the PMDC
People's Movement for Democratic Change
The People's Movement for Democratic Change is a liberal party in Sierra Leone. It is a breakaway faction of the Sierra Leone People's Party . It was officially registered on 19 January 2006...
were invited as special guests at the convention to promote peace and National Reconciliation
National Reconciliation
National Reconciliation is the term used for establishment of so-called 'national unity' in countries beset with political problems. In Afghanistan Mohammad Najibullah's proposals for national unification started in 1987 and ended early in the 1990s to stop the Afghan civil war which had haunted...
across the country, following the tense general elections in 2007. Those in attendance at the convention included John Oponjo Benjamin
John Oponjo Benjamin
John Oponjo Benjamin is a Sierra Leonean economist and politician of Mende descent. He is the current leader of the main opposition Sierra Leone People's Party . He served as Sierra Leone's Minister of Finance from 2002 to 2007...
, the leader of the main opposition the SLPP; and Charles Francis Margai
Charles Margai
Charles Francis Kondo Margai is a Sierra Leonean lawyer and politician. He is the leader of the People's Movement for Democratic Change the third major political party in Sierra Leone, after the big two, the Sierra Leone People's Party and the All People's Congress . He was his party's candidate...
, the Leader of the country's third major party the PMDC. http://sierraleoneagenda.org/articles/2009/apr_2009/article_20090418_1.aspx forAPC leadership
Political convention
In politics, a political convention is a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates.In the United States, a political convention usually refers to a presidential nominating convention, but it can also refer to state, county, or congressional district nominating conventions...
to elect a new leader that would challenge president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of the SLPP who faces re-election for a second five year term. Ernest Bai Koroma, then an Insurance broker
Insurance broker
An insurance broker finds sources for contracts of insurance on behalf of their customers. The three largest insurance brokers in the world, by revenue, are Aon, Marsh & McLennan, and Willis Group Holdings.-Purpose of insurance brokers:...
from the northern district of Bombali who was virtually unknown in Sierra Leone announced his candidacy for the leadership of the All People's Congress (APC) ahead of the 2002 Sierra Leone presidential and parliamentary elections. He was one of seven candidates for the APC leadership.
Koroma was a clear underdog
Underdog (competition)
An underdog is a person or group in a competition, frequently in electoral politics, sports and creative works, who is popularly expected to lose. The party, team or individual expected to win is called the favorite or top dog. In the rare case where an underdog wins, the outcome is an upset. These...
to long time APC leader Edward Turay
Edward Turay
Edward Mohammed Turay is a politician in Sierra Leone. He was leader of the All People's Congress from 1996 until 2002. He contested the 1996 national election for president; however, Turay lost the election after gaining just 5.1% of the first round of voting, good enough for fifth place...
who was the favorite and was expected to easily win the APC leadership yet again. Koroma stressed that under the APC leadership of Edward Turay, the party had lost a significant number of seats in parliament and had lost trust among Sierra Leoneans, even in its traditional stronghold in Northern Sierra Leone. Koroma said the party will continue to lose even more support unless the party moves to a new direction that will care more about the interest of Sierra Leoneans.
Koroma was elected leader of the All People's Congress (APC) on March 24, 2002, at a national convention
Political convention
In politics, a political convention is a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates.In the United States, a political convention usually refers to a presidential nominating convention, but it can also refer to state, county, or congressional district nominating conventions...
of the party held in the northern town of Kabala
Kabala, Sierra Leone
Kabala is the capital and largest town of Koinadugu District in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone, with a population of 14,108 in the 2004 census, and a current estimate of 18,770 Kabala is one of the main cities in northern Sierra Leone and is set in a rural landscape...
, Koinadugu District
Koinadugu District
Koinadugu District Is a District in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. It is by far the largest District in Sierra Leone in geographical area. Its capital and largest city is Kabala, which is also one of the main cities in Northern Sierra Leone...
ahead of the 2002 Sierra Leone Presidential and Parliamentary Elections. Koroma received received 370 votes from APC delegates, while 12 delegates voted against him and the remainder abstained.
2002 presidential and parliamentary election
In the 2002 Sierra Leone presidential election Koroma received 22.3% of the vote as the APC presidential candidate, losing in a landslideLandslide
A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...
to incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone People's Party
Sierra Leone People's Party
Sierra Leone People's Party is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, along with the All People's Congress .-Formation:...
(SLPP), who received 70.1% and was shortly sworn in for a new five year term. In the parliamentary election, Koroma was elected to a seat from Bombali District.
Court case
Embattled by series of court case against his youthful leadership and executive and the 2002 APC Constitution, Koroma was eventually stripped off his de jure leadership of the APC by the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone on 22 June 2005. He was however again unanimously elected as Leader and presidential candidate of the APC ahead of the 2007 Sierra Leone presidential and parliamentary elections at a National Delegates Conference in September 2005 held in the northern town of Port LokoPort Loko
Port Loko is the capital and second largest city of Port Loko District in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. The city lies about , as the crow flies, north-east of the nation's capital Freetown and had a population of 21,961 in the 2004 census Port Loko lies on Banka Soka River, which flows...
. The internal party dispute was said to be resolved in April 2007, mainly between Koroma and Edward Turay, with Koroma being accepted by APC dissidents as the party's leader ahead of the 2007 general election.
Under his leadership, the APC swept virtually all the seats in the Western Area and the Northern Province
Northern Province, Sierra Leone
The Northern Province is one of the four provincial divisions of Sierra Leone. It comprises five Districts and covers an area of 35,936 km² and with a population of 1,718,240 . Its administrative and economic center is Makeni...
during the local government elections of 2004. This was in spite of the fact that some of the old guard of the APC dismissed his leadership as a matter of child's play.
Presidency
The Koroma presidency have focused upon rebuilding the country's national infrastructureInfrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
after the Civil War
Sierra Leone Civil War
The Sierra Leone Civil War began on 23 March 1991 when the Revolutionary United Front , with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia , intervened in Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow the Joseph Momoh government...
, fighting corruption, improving the country's health care system
Health care system
A health care system is the organization of people, institutions, and resources to deliver health care services to meet the health needs of target populations....
. In April 2010, Koroma sign into law the country's free health care program for pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under the age of five. Koroma has focused on free-market solutions, attracting more private investment.
Koroma has given the country's anti-corruption commision more powers to investigate and prosecute corrupt officials. Since coming to power in 2007, Koroma has dismissed several government ministers associated with corruption, including two of his ministers indicted on corruption charges by the Sierra Leone anti-corruption commision.
Relations with UK
The British government has continued to provide large scale aid and advice, with former Prime Minister of the United KingdomPrime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
continuing to work closely with the Sierra Leone government and speak out for investment in Sierra Leone. At Koroma's request, Blair created a nine person board to advise the government on foreign investment. The UK continues to be the largest donor to Sierra Leone, giving more money per person than to any other nation, and promising to raise aid by a further 50 million pounds sterling in 2010...
Although peace has surely come to Sierra Leone, President Koroma was still thankful to Tony Blair for such an immense role he played in securing peace for Sierra Leone, something he acknowledged the Sierra Leone media and many here will never forget; http://www.articlesbase.com/news-and-society-articles/tony-blair-sierra-leone-legacy-1046750.html. The Everlasting Legacy of Tony Blair in Sierra Leone], By Muctaru Wurie. In a recent BBC report http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news/2009/08/090803_sierraleone.shtml by Humphrey Hawksley, some British diplomats and aid workers raised concerns about the slow pace of development in the country stressing on the problem of corruption, and asking whether almost a decade after the war - British military and post-war aid assistance has gone in vain as the country still struggle with poverty and massive unemployment.
Reforms
Koroma pushed through arrest and prosecution authority for the Sierra Leone Anti-corruption Commission, and naming former Human Rights lawyer Abdul Tejan-ColeAbdul Tejan-Cole
Abdul Tejan-Cole is a Sierra Leonean legal practitioner and the Commissioner of Sierra Leone’s Anti-Corruption Commission. He was awarded the 2001 Human Rights Watch award....
its head immediately after his election. The government has spoken of transitioning from large scale aid to private investment in the nation, sought to boost the nascent Tourist industry
Tourism in Sierra Leone
Tourism in Sierra Leone is an important growing national service industry. According to the International Labour Organisation, approximately 8,000 Sierra Leoneans are employed in the tourism industry, with a growing number of jobs expected to be created in the future. The main entrance point is...
, signed deals for more extensive Mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
service, began a wide scale public sector reform program aimed at cutting government waste, and given greater powers to the government Ombudsman.
Forest protection
At the same time, Koroma inaugurated a large new national park at Gola Forest, and banned exports by logging companies, singling out Chinese-owned companies, which he accused of "plundering" the nation's forests.Relations with Zimbabwe
President Koroma has also controversially been one of the few African leaders to strongly condemn Zimbabwe President Robert MugabeRobert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
.
Drug trade
In July 2008, Koroma pledged to crack down on cocaine trafficking in Sierra Leone, after a large drug bust of an aircraft loaded with cocaine at the national airport.Candidate
Sierra Leonean general election, 2007
Presidential and parliamentary elections were held in Sierra Leone on 11 August 2007. Seven candidates competed in the first round of the presidential election; no candidate received the necessary 55% of the vote to win in the first round, and a second round was held between the top two candidates,...
. His main rival for the presidency of Sierra Leone was incumbent Vice-President Solomon Berewa
Solomon Berewa
Solomon Ekuma Dominic Berewa was Vice-President of Sierra Leone from May 2002 to September 2007...
of the SLPP. Koroma stronghold was in Northern Sierra Leone, and in the Western Area of Sierra Leone. Berewa, on the other hand, maintained strong support in south-eastern Sierra Leone.
Koroma was allegedly the target of an assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
attempt in the early hours of July 23, 2007 in Bo
Bo, Sierra Leone
Bo is the second largest city in Sierra Leone and the largest city in the Southern Province. It lies about 164 miles south-east of Freetown and had a population 149,957 in the 2004 census, with a current estimate is 231,494 . The city serve as the capital and administrative center of Bo District...
, Sierra Leone's second largest city (a traditional stronghold of the SLPP), when, according to the APC, a group of armed men led by Tom Nyuma
Tom Nyuma
Tom Nyuma is a retired Sierra Leonean military commander and currently the chairman of Kailahun District council from the opposition Sierra Leone People's Party . He was elected as chairman of Kailahun District council on July 6, 2008 with 87% of the vote...
, who was a participant in the 1992 coup that ousted the APC from power, attempted to enter Koroma's hotel room to kill him. Nyuma was severely beaten by Koroma's guards, and he was hospitalized as a result. According to another version of events, however, there was no assassination attempt and the claim was invented to justify the beating of Nyuma.
Election
In the first round of the 2007 presidential election in Sierra Leone, held on August 11, Koroma garnered 44.3% of the votes, ahead of Solomon BerewaSolomon Berewa
Solomon Ekuma Dominic Berewa was Vice-President of Sierra Leone from May 2002 to September 2007...
of the ruling SLPP, who received 38.3%. This was not enough to win outright, and a run-off election was held on September 8.
In an interview with Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
on September 13, Koroma said that he wanted to run the country "like a business concern", emphasize agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
rather than mining, and fight firmly against corruption.
On September 17, the Sierra Leone National Electoral Commission declared Koroma to be the winner of the election with 54.6% of the vote, although the SLPP disputed the results. He was sworn in later on the same day at a ceremony attended by Berewa and Kabbah.
On September 21, Koroma left Sierra Leone for a diplomatic visit to neighboring Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
and Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
, his first trip outside the country as President.
Koroma took a notably long time to name his Cabinet ministers, doing so in stages. The first group of 10 ministers was named on October 8, and another 10 were named on October 12. According to Koroma, he was willing to take additional time to find the right people; others, however, speculated that the delay was due to maneuvering within the APC for Cabinet positions.
Inauguration
Koroma was formally inaugurated in Freetown on November 15, 2007 at a ceremony attended by five other African leaders. On this occasion, he promised to fight corruption and emphasized the importance of changing people's attitudes towards corruption.Koroma promised zero tolerance on corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
, to fight against the mismanagement of the country's resources and that he "would run Sierra Leone like a business concern", emphasizing agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
. He further promised his government will increase the GDP per capita; reduce poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
and increase jobs; pledged the provision of electricity not only in the urban areas, but to all parts of Sierra Leone.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by several African Head of State
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
and representatives of other world leaders and organizations, including Nigerian president Umaru Yar'Adua, Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
n president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade
Abdoulaye Wade
Abdoulaye Wade is the third and current President of Senegal, in office since 2000. He is also the Secretary-General of the Senegalese Democratic Party and has led the party since it was founded in 1974...
, Gambia
The Gambia
The Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....
n president Yahya Jammeh
Yahya Jammeh
Alhaji Dr. Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh is the President of The Gambia...
, Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...
's president Blaise Compaoré
Blaise Compaoré
Blaise Compaoré has been the President of Burkina Faso since 1987 following a coup d'état that ousted then-President Thomas Sankara. In 2011, a mutiny by soldiers over unpaid housing allowances forced him to flee the capital for his hometown...
, Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
an president Amadou Toumani Touré
Amadou Toumani Touré
Amadou Toumani Touré is the president of Mali. He overthrew a military ruler, Moussa Traoré in 1991, then handed power to civilian authorities the next year...
, Guinean Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Lansana Kouyaté
Lansana Kouyate
Lansana Kouyaté is a Guinean diplomat and political figure who served as Prime Minister of Guinea from 2007 to 2008.-Background and earlier career:...
and United States Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer
Jendayi Frazer
Jendayi Elizabeth Frazer is the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, heading the Bureau of African Affairs. She currently serves as a Distinguished Service Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College and Department of Social and Decision...
.
Election violence
In August 2008, fighting between supporters of Koroma's All People's CongressAll People's Congress
The All People's Congress is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, the other is the Sierra Leone People's Party . The party was founded in 1960 by Pa Mucktarru Kallay, Allieu Badarr Koroma,Alhaji Sheik Gibril Sesay C A Kamara-Taylor, S A T Koroma and Abu Bakarr S Bangura...
(APC) party and opposition Sierra Leone People's Party
Sierra Leone People's Party
Sierra Leone People's Party is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, along with the All People's Congress .-Formation:...
(SLPP) erupted in Freetown and the country's second largest city of Bo
Bo, Sierra Leone
Bo is the second largest city in Sierra Leone and the largest city in the Southern Province. It lies about 164 miles south-east of Freetown and had a population 149,957 in the 2004 census, with a current estimate is 231,494 . The city serve as the capital and administrative center of Bo District...
in the run up to municipal elections, with ruling party supporters charged with attacking opposition members and journalists. Koroma promised to crack down on such violence.
External links
- Profile of Sierra Leone's leader: Ernest Bai Koroma
- Presentation of His Excellency President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma: Embassy of Sierra Leone to the United States.