Ernest Bai Koroma
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Ernest Bai Koroma (born October 2, 1953) is the fourth and current
President of Sierra Leone since 2007.
An insurance executive by
profession, Koroma spent over twenty-four years working in the private insurance industry before entering
politics
in 2002. From 1988 to 2002, Koroma was the Managing Director of the
Reliance Insurance Trust Corporation (Ritcorp), one of the largest
insurance companies in Sierra Leone. He is a 1976 graduate from
Fourah Bay College, the oldest
university in
West Africa. Koroma is a native of
Bombali District in the North of Sierra Leone and a member of the
Temne ethnic group.
Koroma was elected as leader of the
All People's Congress (APC), then Sierra Leone's main
opposition party, on March 24, 2002, after defeating then
incumbent APC leader
Edward Turay, his main opponent
[3].
Koroma stood as the APC candidate in the 2002 Sierra Leone presidential
election, but he was defeated by incumbent Sierra Leone's President
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, who won 70.3% of the vote, to Koroma's 22.35%
[4]. Koroma conceded defeat
[5].
Koroma was later elected to
Parliament of Sierra Leone representing his home District of
Bombali
from 2002 to 2007. In 2005, he was elected the minority leader of
Parliament and remained in that position until his election to the
Presidency in 2007. . Koroma stood again as the APC candidate in the
2007 presidential election. In a tense
run-off, he received 54.6% of the vote and defeated incumbent Vice President
Solomon Berewa, the candidate of then ruling
Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP).
[6]. Berewa conceded defeat, and Koroma was sworn in as President on September 17, 2007 at the
State House in the capital
Freetown the same day he was declared the winner
[7]. International and local observers declared the election free and fair
[8]
Koroma succeeded President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, who was
constitutionally ineligible to run for the presidency again after
serving the maximum two five-year
term limit. In his
inauguration speech, Koroma promised zero tolerance on
corruption and said he will fight against the mismanagement of the country's
resources [9][10].
On April 16, 2009, Koroma was re-elected unopposed by the APC as the party's presidential candidate for the
2012 presidential election at the APC National Delegates
convention held in the northern city of
Makeni.
In the November 2012 presidential election, Koroma was re-elected as
President receiving 58.7%, against his main opponent, SLPP candidate
Julius Maada Bio, who received 37.4%.
[11][12][13][14][15] International observers deemed the election to be free and fair.
[16][17] Koroma was sworn in as President for his second and final term at State House in Freetown by
Chief Justice Umu Hawa Tejan-Jalloh on the same day he was declared the winner of the election.
[18].
Early life and education
Ernest Bai Koroma was born on October 2, 1953, in
Makeni,
[1] Bombali District in the
Northern Province of
Sierra Leone. Koroma was born of
Christian parentage in the predominantly
Muslim north and a devout Christian himself. Koroma is a longtime member of the
Wesleyan Church of Sierra Leone
[19][20]
Koroma's father,
Sylvanus Koroma was an
ethnic Temne preacher, and a native of
Makari Gbanti chiefdom, Bombali District. Pa Sylvanus Koroma spent years working as a
bible school teacher at the
Wesleyan Church in Makeni.
[2][3]
Koroma's mother,
Madam Alice Koroma (June 27, 1932 – July 6, 2012), was an ethnic
Biriwa Limba from the small rural town of
Kamabai,
Bombali District. Madam Alice Koroma served as a
councillor in the
Makeni city council in the 1960s as a member of the
All People's Congress
(APC). Maddam Alice Koroma was a prominent member of the APC party
Bombali District branch, and a strong supporter of then Sierra Leone's
president
Siaka Stevens' APC government. Maddam Alice Koroma later spent almost her entire career working as a
primary school teacher in Makeni.
Koroma is an ethnic
Temne,
due to his father's ethnic group, and was raised in a predominantly
Temne household in Makeni. He is also a fluent speaker of the
Temne language . Koroma grew up in a
religious Christian household in Makeni and he regularly attended
church services with his siblings at the Wesleyan church in Makeni, where his parents were longtime 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 25 miles from his hometown of Makeni) where he graduated in 1973.
[4]
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
employed as a teacher at the St. Francis Secondary School in his
hometown of Makeni from 1976 to 1978.
Career in the insurance industry
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.
[5]
Marriage and family
Koroma is married to
Sia Nyama Koroma, the daughter of
Abu Aiah Koroma, who served for a time as
Attorney General. 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 Nurse trained and qualified in
Great Britain. The couple were married on October 18, 1986 at the King Memorial UMC Church in
Freetown [21].
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.
Political career
Run for APC leadership
In 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 faced 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 by the general population 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
[22]. He was one of seven candidates for the APC leadership.
Koroma was a clear
underdog to longtime 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. The APC was thought to
be divided between the old guards wing of the party leady by Edward
Turay, and the new generation wing of the party lead by Ernest Bai
Koroma
[23]. 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.
[6]
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
landslide to
incumbent President
Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of the
Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), who received 70.3% and was shortly sworn in for a new five-year term.
[7] In the parliamentary election, Koroma was elected to a seat from Bombali District.
[8]
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 June 22, 2005
[24].
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 APC National Delegates Convention held on
September 3, 2005 in the northern town of
Port Loko.
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.
[9][10]
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.
Presidency
The Koroma presidency have focused upon rebuilding the country's national
infrastructure after the
Civil War, fighting corruption, improving the country's
health care system.
In April 2010, Koroma signed into law the country's free health care
program for pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under the age
of five.
[11] Koroma has focused on free-market solutions, attracting more private investment.
On September 4, 2008, Koroma declared 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.
[25] [26].
Under the new law, it is compulsory for the president and other
government officials to declare their assets and update them annually.
Koroma has given the country's anti-corruption commission more powers to investigate and prosecute corrupt officials.
[12]
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 commission.
Relations with UK
The British government has continued to provide large scale aid and advice, with former
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 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.
[13]
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...
[14]
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;
[27]. The Everlasting Legacy of Tony Blair in Sierra Leone], By Muctaru Wurie.</ref> In a recent BBC report
[28]
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-Cole its head immediately after his election.
[15]
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,
[16]
began a wide scale public sector reform program aimed at cutting
government waste, and given greater powers to the government Ombudsman.
[17]
Forest protection
At the same time, Koroma inaugurated a large new national park at
Gola Forest,
[18]
and banned exports by logging companies, singling out Chinese-owned
companies, which he accused of "plundering" the nation's forests.
[19]
Relations with Zimbabwe
President Koroma has also controversially been one of the few African leaders to strongly condemn Zimbabwe President
Robert Mugabe.
[20]
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.
[21][22]
Candidate
A man passes, in Freetown, posters for APC candidate Koroma (foreground)
and the ruling SLPP ahead of presidential elections, August 6, 2007.
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.
[23] Nyuma was severely beaten by Koroma's guards, and he was hospitalized as a result.
[24]
According to another version of events, however, there was no
assassination attempt and the claim was invented to justify the beating
of Nyuma.
[25]
2007 Presidential 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 Berewa of the ruling SLPP, who received 38.3%. This was not enough to win outright,
[26] and a run-off election was held on September 8.
[27]
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.
[28]
On September 17, the Sierra Leone National Electoral Commission
declared Koroma to be the winner of the election with 54.6% of the vote,
[29] although the SLPP disputed the results.
[30] He was sworn in later on the same day
[31] at a ceremony attended by Berewa and Kabbah.
[32]
On September 21, Koroma left Sierra Leone for a diplomatic visit to neighboring
Guinea and
Liberia, his first trip outside the country as President.
[33]
Koroma took a notably long time to name his Cabinet ministers, doing so in stages.
[34] The first group of 10 ministers was named on October 8,
[35] and another 10 were named on October 12.
[36] According to Koroma, he was willing to take additional time to find the right people;
[34] others, however, speculated that the delay was due to maneuvering within the APC for Cabinet positions.
[34][35]
Inauguration
Koroma was formally inaugurated in Freetown on November 15, 2007
[37] at a ceremony attended by seven other African leaders.
[38]
On this occasion, he promised to fight corruption and emphasized the
importance of changing people's attitudes towards corruption.
[37][38]
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.
[39]
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,
Liberian president
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf,
Senegalese president
Abdoulaye Wade,
Gambian president
Yahya Jammeh,
Burkina Faso's president
Blaise Compaoré,
Malian president
Amadou Toumani Touré,
Guinean Prime Minister Lansana Kouyaté and
United States Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer.
Election violence
In August 2008, fighting between supporters of Koroma's
All People's Congress (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.
[40]
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 election at the APC National Delegates
convention held in the northern city of
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 [29][30].
2012 re-election to second term
Koroma was re-elected as President for his second and final term, on
November 23, 2012, with 58.7%, in the 2012 Sierra Leone Presidential
election, defeating his main opponent,
Retired Brigadier Julius Maada Bio of the main opposition Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), whot got 37.4%
[31][32][33][34][35]. Koroma was sworn in as President for his second and final term by
Chief Justice Umu Hawa Tejan Jalloh at
State House in Freetown; the same day he was declared the winner of the election
[36].
In his sworn in speech to the nation, at State House, Koroma says the
time for politics is over, the moment for continuing the transformation
of Sierra Leone has come. He says this is the time for all APC and SLPP
supporters and supporters of other political parties to embrace each
other as one nation. He says Sierra Leoneans have endorsed the
achievements his government have made with the Agenda for Change and he
has been asked by the people of Sierra Leone to continue on to the
Agenda for
Prosperity.
Koroma says he is inviting the leadership of the SLPP and other
political parties to join the leadership of the APC in moving Sierra
Leone forward. Koroma says the goodwill of the Country requires
membership of all political parties.
Koroma says in his second term his government will focus on creating jobs for the
youths all over the country; continue with the
infrastructural development across the country; continue to fight
corruption; continue to attract foreign
investment;
continue to bring electricity to every districts across the country;
and continue to protect the rights of every Sierra Leoneans
[37].
Cabinet
2012 Election
On the 23rd November, 2012 at 19:30 GMT Ernest Bai Koroma was
Re-Elected President of Sierra Leone. Though the announcement was
delayed by 10 days the election was acknowledged as peaceful and
fearless by local and international observers.
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