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In a recent interview with the Uongozo Institute in Tanzania that supports African Leaders to attain sustainable development, former President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma who led Sierra Leone from 2007 to 2018 outlined his political leadership journey.
Ernest explained that the journey started back in 1977 when the late President Siaka Probyn Stevens conducted the 1977 election which was participated by a nationwide students and trade union strike.
By then, he said, fresh from Fourah Bay College (FBC) – University of Sierra Leone (USL), he was a teacher at one of the senior secondary schools in his home town of Makeni.
He further that as a teacher, he had made a very good impression on his colleague teachers, pupils and the community who, based on that, urged him to contest the election under the All People’s Congress (APC) ticket for the Makeni Constituency.
Ernest maintained that although he had the clear support of the people, the then APC Chairman and Leader and the party decided to give the symbol to the incumbent who was an elderly person.
In order to console him, Chairman Siaka Steven, he went on, told him, “You have a bright future in politics, I see great prospect ahead of you but you have to build on your capacity by learning from your past experience and that of others in the universe.”
Ernest said, he took the Chairman’s words in good faith and decided to move on by moving from classroom to the insurance world to build a career. Ernest said, he spent about 25 to 30 years in the private sector observing the political sphere with a view to returning to politics one day.
Furthered that, he first contested for the Presidency of Sierra Leone in 2002 against the Sierra Leone People’s Party candidate, the late President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah. His second attempt was in 2007 against the late Vice President Solomon Ekuma Berewa which saw him emerge winner in the runoff presidential election.
Based on his successful implementation of his government’s Agenda for Change, Ernest said he easily won reelection in 2012 against the SLPP challenger, Retired Brigadier Julius Maada Bio.
The Exclusive reported that, during his second term, under the theme of Agenda for Prosperity, he said, Sierra Leone rose to become one of the fastest growing economies in the world largely due to the iron ore industry boom, expanded economic activities and prudent fiscal management.
However, his government, he added, hit a snag in 2014 when the Ebola Virus Disease entered into the country in the late 2014 and eventually spread across the entire country bringing devastating damage on economic growth, the health system, education and food security.
Even after he successfully completed his two terms in office in 2018, Ernest remains a very popular politician whose advice is sought by many international organizations in the area of peace building and managing elections.
