ERNEST KOROMA BACK IN POWER IN SIERRA
LEONE
The
African country Sierra Leone's President Ernest Koroma swept to a second term
with 58 per cent of votes in a poll in the third week of November 2012. Mr.
Koroma's nearest rival was Julius Maada Bio who trailed with
37-4 per cent. By scoring more than 55 per cent of the vote the incumbent
managed to avoid a second round of voting.
Mr. Koroma was sworn in on
November 23, 2012 immediately after the results were announced. He called on
all Sierra Leoneans, including Mr. Bio's opposition Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), to unite in moving the
country forward.
"The job at hand requires the
goodwill and positive energy of the membership of all political parties,"
he said.
"The
United States swiftly congratulated Mr. Koroma, noting the democratic progress
the West African country has made since the end of a civil war a decade ago.
The
country still bears the scars of a brutal 11-year civil conflict during which rebels
hacked off the limbs of civilians during a campaign of terror. They bank rolled
their army with the sale of 'blood diamonds'. Sierra Leone is rich in
mineral resources and massive iron-ore deposits are expected to add 21 per cent
growth this year to its $ 2.2 billion Gross Domestic Product, the International
Monetary Fund estimates.
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