Ernest Bai Koroma

Koroma's mother, Alice Koroma (27 June 1932 – 6 July 2012), was an ethnic Biriwa Limba from the small rural town of Kamabai, also in Bombali District.

Ernest Bai Koroma (born 2 October 1953) is a Sierra Leonean politician who served as the fourth President of Sierra Leone from 17 September 2007 to 4 April 2018.

Ernest Bai Koroma was born on 2 October 1953 in Makeni, Bombali District in the Northern Province of British Sierra Leone.

He was born into a Christian family in the predominantly Muslim north.

Koroma was raised in a predominantly ethnic Temne household and is a fluent speaker of the Temne and Limba languages, his parents' mother tongues.

His father, Sylvanus Koroma, was of Temne and Loko heritage and grew up in a Temne household.

He was born in the Makari Gbanti chiefdom, Bombali District.

He worked for years as a bible school teacher at the Wesleyan Church in Makeni.

She entered local politics in the 1960s, and was elected as a member of the All People's Congress (APC) to the Makeni city council.

Alice Koroma was women's leader of the APC Bombali District branch.

She was also a strong supporter of President Siaka Stevens' administration, when the APC leader was elected.

Alice Koroma later worked for most of her career as a primary school teacher in Makeni.

Koroma attended the Sierra Leone Church Primary School in Makeni.

For higher education, he went to the Magburaka Government Secondary School for Boys in Magburaka, Tonkolili District (about 25 miles from his hometown of Makeni).

He graduated in 1973.

Koroma earned a bachelor's degree from Fourah Bay College in 1976; and is an insurance agent by profession.

He moved to the capital Freetown to attend Fourah Bay College, from where he graduated in 1976 with a degree in Business Management.

Soon after graduating from Fourah Bay College, Koroma became a teacher at St. Francis Secondary School in Makeni (1976–78).

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.

A longtime member of the Wesleyan Church of Sierra Leone, Koroma married Sia Nyama Koroma, the daughter of attorney and politician Abu Aiah Koroma.

He served as former Attorney General of Sierra Leone, and also held several other government ministry positions under presidents Joseph Saidu Momoh and Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.

An ethnic Kono from Kono District, Sia Koroma is a biochemist, holding Bachelor of Science with Honours in Chemistry and a master's in biochemistry.

She is also a psychiatric nurse trained and qualified in Great Britain.

From 1988 to 2002, he was the managing director of the Reliance Insurance Trust Corporation (Ritcorp).

Born and raised in Makeni in northern Sierra Leone, Koroma spent more than 24 years working in the private insurance industry before entering politics in 2002.

Koroma was elected as leader of the All People's Congress (APC), Sierra Leone's main opposition party, on 24 March 2002, after defeating then-incumbent APC leader Edward Turay.

Koroma stood as the APC candidate in the 2002 presidential election but was defeated in a free and fair election by incumbent President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, who won 70.3% of the vote, to Koroma's 22.35%.

Koroma conceded defeat.

Koroma was later elected to Parliament, 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.

In the 2007 presidential election run-off, Koroma received 54.6% of the vote and defeated incumbent Vice-President Solomon Berewa of the ruling SLPP.

Berewa conceded defeat, and Koroma was sworn in as President on 17 September 2007, at the State House in the capital Freetown.

International and local observers declared the election free and fair.

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 the November 2012 presidential election, Koroma was re-elected as President for a second term, receiving 58.7%, against his main opponent, SLPP candidate Julius Maada Bio, who received 37.4%.

International observers deemed the election to be free and fair.

Koroma was succeeded by Julius Maada Bio following his victory in run-off elections held on 31 March 2018.

In December 2023, Koroma was placed under house arrest after two days of interrogation following an attempted coup d'état on 26 November 2023 during demonstrations.

He was charged with four counts of treason in relation to the coup on 3 January 2024.