BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : PRESIDENT ERNEST BAI KOROMA THE POLITICAL LEADER OF THE REPUBLIC OF SIERRA LEONE : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS "

BLACK       SOCIAL      HISTORY                                                                                                                                                            Ernest Bai Koroma born October 2, 1953 is a Sierre Leonean politician who has been President of Sierra Leone since 2007.
An ethnic Temne and 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 was elected as leader of the All People's Congress (APC), then Sierra Leone's main opposition party, in 2002, after defeating then incumbent APC leader Edward Turay, his main opponent. Koroma served as a member of 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 as the APC's presidential candidate in the 2002 election, but he was defeated by President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. He 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 Vice President Solomon Berewa, the candidate of the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP).  Koroma was sworn in as President on September 17, 2007 at the State House in the capital Freetown.
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 .
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%.  International observers deemed the election to be free and fair.  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.
Ernest Bai Koroma was born on October 2, 1953, in Makeni, 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's father, Sylvanus Koroma was an ethnic Temne preacher, and a native of Makari Gbanti chiefdom in Bombali District. Pa Sylvanus was a very religious Christian and he spent years working as a bible school teacher at the Wesleyan Church in Makeni. Ernest Bai 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. Maddam Alice Koroma spent almost her entire career working as a primary school teacher in Makeni. Madam Alice Koroma served in the Makeni city council in the 1960s as a member of the All People's Congress (APC). Maddam Alice Koroma was a longtime member of the APC political party under the leadership of Siaka Stevens and she was a strong supporter of Siaka Stevens' APC government.
Koroma is an ethnic Temne 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.
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.

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.

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 . 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.