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Sierra Leone

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Ernest Bai Koroma (born October 2, 1953 in Makeni, Bombali District, Sierra Leone) is the 4th and current President of Sierra Leone. He was sworn in as president on September 17, 2007, shortly after being declared the winner of a tense run-off election. He is the leader of the All People's Congress (APC) and was minority leader in parliament prior to becoming President.

Ernest Bai Koroma was born on October 2, 1953, in Makeni, Bombali District in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Koroma was born to an ethnic Temne Father and a Limba mother from Kamabai, Bombali District. He is a Christian from the predominantly Muslim North.

Koroma attended the Sierra Leone Church Primary School in Makeni, and then the Government Secondary School for Boys in Magburaka, Tonkolili District. He attended Fourah Bay College, in Freetown, from which he graduated in 1976. After graduating, Koroma taught briefly at the St. Francis Secondary School in Makeni and then 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.^[1]

Koroma was elected as the leader of the APC on March 24, 2002, at a national convention of the party. He was expected to be one of seven candidates, but five of them were not present for the election, and the remaining candidate appeared only briefly. Unopposed, Koroma received 370 votes from delegates, while 12 delegates voted against him and the remainder abstained.^[2] Koroma represented the APC in the May 2002 presidential and parliamentary elections, which solidified the APC as the main opposition party. He received 22.3% of the vote as the APC's candidate in the presidential election, losing to incumbent president Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), who received about 70%.^[3] In the parliamentary election, Koroma was elected to a seat from Bombali District.^[4]

Koroma continued as leader of the APC until being stripped of the position by the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone in June 2005, only to be reinstated in that position in September of that year.^[1] The internal party dispute was said to be resolved in April 2007, with Koroma being accepted by APC dissidents as the party's leader ahead of the 2007 election.^[5][6]

Koroma was the APC candidate in the August 2007 presidential election. He was allegedly the target of an assassination attempt in the early hours of July 23, 2007, 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, attempted to enter his hotel room in Bo to kill him.^[7] Nyuma was severely beaten by Koroma's guards, and he was hospitalized as a result.^[8] According to another version of events, however, there was no assassination attempt and the claim was invented to justify the beating of Nyuma.^[9]

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,^[10] and a run-off election was held on September 8.^[11]

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.^[12]

On September 17, the National Electoral Commission declared Koroma to be the winner of the election with 54.6% of the vote,^[13] although the SLPP disputed the results.^[14] He was sworn in later on the same day^[15] at a ceremony attended by Berewa and Kabbah.^[16]

On September 21, Koroma left Sierra Leone for a diplomatic visit to neighboring Guinea and Liberia, his first trip outside the country as President.^[17]

Koroma has taken a notably long time to name his Cabinet ministers, and has done so in stages.^[18] The first group of 10 ministers was named on October 8,^[19] and another 10 were named on October 12.^[20] According to Koroma, he is willing to take additional time to find the right people;^[18] others, however, have speculated that the delay is due to maneuvering in the APC for Cabinet positions.^[18][19]

Koroma was formally inaugurated in Freetown on November 15, 2007^[21] at a ceremony attended by five other African leaders.^[22] On this occasion, he promised to fight corruption and emphasized the importance of changing people's attitudes towards corruption.^[21][22]

• Profile of Sierra Leone's Opposition leader: Ernest Bai Koroma

v • d • e Heads of government of Sierra Leone
(Prime Ministers, 1961-1971)	Milton Margai • Albert Margai • Siaka Stevens • David Lansana† • Ambrose Patrick Genda† • Andrew Juxon-Smith† • Patrick Conteh • Siaka Stevens
(Presidents, 1971-)	Christopher Cole • Siaka Stevens • Joseph Saidu Momoh • Yahya Kanu† • Valentine Strasser† • Julius Maada Bio† • Ahmad Tejan Kabbah • Johnny Paul Koroma† • Ahmad Tejan Kabbah• Ernest Bai Koroma  †denotes military ruler

v • d • e Candidates in the 2002 Sierra Leonean presidential election
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah • Ernest Bai Koroma • Johnny Paul Koroma • Alimamy Pallo Bangura • John Karefa-Smart

v • d • e Candidates in the 2007 Sierra Leonean presidential election
Solomon Berewa • Ernest Bai Koroma • Abdul Kady Karim • Charles Margai • Kandeh Baba Conteh • Amadu Jalloh • Andrew Turay

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