THE PRESIDENT OF SIERRA

LEONE
By Fatima Kamara
Early life of
Earnest Bai Koroma
 fourth and current
president of the Republic
of Sierra Leone
  Born on October 2,
1953,
in Makeni, Bombali
District in the Northern
Province of Sierra Leone.
His middle name Bai
means Chief in his
native Temne language .
Education of Earnest Bai Koroma
 Koroma attended the Sierra
Leone Church primary School
in Makeni, and then proceeded
to the Sierra Leone
Government Secondary
School for
Boys in Magburaka, Tonkolili
District, about 25 miles
(34 kilometres) outside
Makeni. He attended Fourah
Bay College in Freetown,
from which he graduated in
1976 with a degree in Arts.
 Early jobs

 Soon After graduating from the Fourah Bay

College in Freetown in 1976, Koroma was
employed as a teacher at the St. Francis Secondary
School in his hometown of Makeni. He joined the
Sierra Leone National Insurance Company in 1978
until 1985. 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 then later
became an insurance stock broker.
 Political career
 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. 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 70.1% and was shortly sworn
in for a new five year term. In the parliamentary election, Koroma was
elected to a seat from Bombali District.
Family life
 Koroma is married to Sia Nyama
Koroma, 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. Together they have two
daughters, Alice and Danke
Koroma. She brought the idea of
free medical service for under 5,
pregnant and the old.
Court Case
 Embattled by series of court case against his
youthful leadership, executive and the 2002
APC Constitution, Koroma was eventually
stripped off his 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 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.
 Presidency
 In an interview, 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. 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. On September 17,
the Sierra Leone National Electoral
Commission declared Koroma to be
the winner of the election with 54.6%
of the vote. He was sworn in later on
the same day.
 He 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.
My point of view
 The first years of Koroma‘s
government have, as compared
the previous government,
focused upon rebuilding
national infrastructure after the
Civil War, providing security,
fighting corruption, and
improving foreign investment.
Koroma has focused on free-
market solutions, attracting
more private investment, and
giving anti-corruption
authorities more powers.