Sierra Leone Telegraph: 7 December 2019:
Sierra Leone’s former President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, held a meeting this week in Makeni, Sierra Leone, with Dr. Frank-Jurgen Richter – the Chairman of Horasis. Frank-Jurgen Richter, who is also the former director of the World Economic Forum, visited Koroma in preparation for the 2020 Horasis Global Meeting.
It could be recalled that during the April 2019 Horasis meeting in Cascais, Portugal, President Koroma spoke about the need for an African Peace Engineering Corps to be established .
The former president also held several high level side meetings on peace, good governance and economic development in Africa.
“I found President Koroma’s presence during the 2019 meeting and his contribution extremely valuable to the overall objectives of Horasis. Therefore I am here to personally invite him to next year’s meeting and to request for his recommendation of other African political and private sector leaders”, said the Frank-Jurgen Richter in Makeni yesterday.
The Chairman of the Horasis went on to say that he agreed with the objectives of the proposed African Peace Engineering Corps and that his organization will fully support president Koroma’s vision. In this regard, Dr. Richter informed of plans to organize, during next year’s meeting, a special Round – Table on the former president’s initiative.
Given the fact that under his leadership Sierra Leone was reckoned as one of the most peaceful countries in Africa, the Former President, who has just returned from an Africa Union Elections Observation Mission to Namibia, views peace as integral to the development of all nations. He therefore believes that, as a statesman, the sharing of his rich experience is crucial for peace building and peace consolidation in Africa and around the world.
“I am very pleased to have received the chairman of Horasis in Sierra Leone; we had very fruitful discussions on our partnership going forward. Indeed I believe Horasis offers a very unique and strategic platform which African leaders, both in the public and private sectors, should utilize in advancing their socio-economic development goals”, said former president Koroma.
The annual Horasis Global Meeting is a global platform for heads of state, entrepreneurs, economists, peace experts and religious leaders, looking for solutions in making the world a better place.
Dr. Frank-Jurgen Richter who is on a tour of African states departed Freetown yesterday for Mauritania.
My brother Mr. Bakarr,
Whatever personal vendetta you have with the former president is within your own prerogative. In my comments, I listed both the reasons why I concluded EBK first term was promising; and at the same time why he should never be considered as a peace noble laureate. Even though I gave a balanced analysis, listing the good and bad, its unsatisfactory to you, nothing will please you except calling for EBK’s crucifixion. You want his head cut off by all means.
I have concluded that extreme views from folks like you should never be given attention; its exactly why our country remain backwards. Your repetition of the tribesmen view point says a lot about you. So I am not going to waste my time trying to rationalize things with you. Let’s continue to enjoy reading and commenting in this platform my brother.
Young4na, cool down brother. One does not have to have a personal vendetta against Ernest Koroma to realize that the man is morally bankrupt. Is it too difficult to accept the fact that EBK was a brutal and divisive dictator who ran the economy of his country to the ground? There are many in the APC who believe this. I have relatives in that party.
Next, what you call extreme views I call views that are anchored in solid fact. It follows that to suggest that EBK took tribalism to a different stratosphere while surrounding himself with his tribesmen and regional comrades in no way pushes Sierra Leone backwards. Conversely, it is folks of your ilk who don’t want to deal with criticisms about the APC or EBK that are responsible for Sierra Leone’s backwardness.
Look, I was born and raised in Freetown of a woman who hails from the same city and the same ethnicity as EBK. However, I have never been a fan of the man. I always considered him reprehensible, based on his record as president. If you want to go ahead and crown EBK saint, go ahead my brother.
Maxwell Bakarr — “But I am at loss as to how you would argue that EBK’s first term in office was promising. This is a man whose first cabinet was full of his tribesmen and regional comrades. How could that be calculated as bringing the nation together? That notwithstanding, EBK sent his thugs led by Leatherboot to beat up and rape innocent SLPP women during his first 100 days in office. Can that be considered a mark of promising leadership?”
My brother Mr. Bakarr, i am sure you can agree with me that, in analyzing a particular political scheme or agenda, a variety of metrics or indices can be employed depending on the subject matter. In my comments, I listed multiple reasons why in my personal opinion I concluded that EBK first term in office was promising. While you are not disputing the accomplishments listed during that time frame, you are however bringing in onboard other factors that you think I should have taken into consideration in deriving my conclusion. Yes, as always the case in African politics, the then opposition SLPP predicaments were indeed untenable, however, the overall atmosphere across the nation was much peaceful and less divisive compared to recent events with the SLPP being in charge.
Now, the first and second rounds of elections were held in August and September of 2007 respectively. EBK was sworn as president in September of 2007. Below is a link to the election results.
http://www.sierra-leone.org/election2007.html
In your rebuttal to my comments, you claimed within the first 100 days, EBK sent thugs to attack SLPP in their headquarters. With all due respect sir, your claims and assertions are far from being factual. To prove you wrong, below is an article written by the current presidential spokesman Mr. Keketoma in the Sierra Leone Telegraph.
https://www.thesierraleonetelegraph.com/march-2009-remembering-slpps-victims-of-political-violence-and-the-disturbing-legacies-of-president-koromas-apc/
If EBK assumed office in September of 2007 and the attack happened in March of 2009, a simple math will reveal that, the attack happen well after EBK first year in office. Now in terms of cabinet appointments, all across the globe, a declared winning presidential candidate has the sole prerogative to appoint individuals whom he/she deem will help achieve his/her political goals; so I am not going to waste time debating on such issues.
My suggestion is for us to avoid using raw emotions rather than facts in debating issues in this platform. By all indications, most of the readers of this paper are educated individuals who can do research, exposing our credibility.
Young4na, hahaha. By your own arguments you admit that EBK sending thugs to the SLPP headquarters to beat up and rape women is a fact. Does it matter at what time in his tenure he did that? Can such an egregious behavior on the part of a national leader be treated as an irrelevant aberration in the course of his leadership as you seem to be doing now?
Moreover, you implicitly agree that the ranks of EBK’s cabinets were filled with his tribesmen and regional comrades. Yet you go on to hypocritically justify such a nepotistic and corrupt behavior at the risk of nullifying the necessity of inclusiveness and national cohesion in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society. So, between you and I who is being emotional?
Look, from the word go, EBK was rotten to the core. Far from demonstrating effective and good leadership, he betrayed the cause of those who supported him in a haze of policy quagmires implemented in an ultra-autocratic and divisive political space. Thus, the entirety of EBK’s tenure was an unwarranted detour in the trajectory of development in Sierra Leone. I surmise that EBK the man was bad news for Sierra Leone and the West African sub-region. I will give my verdict on Maada Bio when he leaves office.
The first brutal ATTACK on the SLPP office by APC thugs happened on the very day that EBK was sworn in as the new president, and that was in September 2007. Many of the perpetrators were from the Limba dominated settlement of Brookfields and Government Wharf.
In a famous BBC focus on Africa interview that day, the then Inspector General of Police Brima Acha Kamara an ethnic Limba himself told the BBC Interviewer that it was the thugs imported by the SLPP into Freetown during the voting exercise that turned on their party office and members in what he dubbed “Operation Pay Yourself”.
When the interviewer asked him how could the SLPP take voters from areas where they were registered to vote to an area where they were not registered to vote, he said that that was what he was told. Is it your evidence Mr. Young4na that this attack never took place?
Let me first of all thank The Sierra Leone Telegraph for publishing this article. The PLATFORM just went wild with a TWEAK of the QUEEN’S LANGUAGE and saying that former President Ernest Koroma will get the NOBEL PEACE PRIZE sooner than later, which is of course a very fair statement because of the mission he is presently engaged in. What a BOMBSHELL for people who have ETERNAL GRUDGE against the former President. I hope they are OKAY. Are they?
What most FORUMITES are failing to realize is that, we are not talking about the former President as a politician, political lobbyist, political animal or government official as some people are. See how far they are from REALITY. I am referring to the former President as an ordinary citizen trying to pursue PEACE, UNITY and STABILITY for the SECURITY of AFRICA and beyond. What is wrong with me trying to propose him getting the NOBEL PEACE PRIZE?
Some have asked about the criteria for getting NOBEL PEACE PRIZE. I would like those asking to consult Google to reconsider their MONSTROSITY against the former President. Some are saying all sorts of FAKE ALLEGATIONS against the former President without proof, which seems to be awkward. Some are waiting for the COI to INDICT the former President in some way. They will wait forever in CLOUD CUCKOO LAND because, no charge will be made if there is no proof in my view. So, all those negative words against the former President to me is SILLY and utter NONSENSE.
The only thing that surprised me about the various comments by all FORUMITES on this particular issue is, how RESPONSIBLE and COURTEOUS at least everyone has been, although I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Everyone has been focused on the issue rather than waging PERSONAL ATTACKS. That’s a very good thing and I hope that all of us will continue with such standard.
Disagreeing with someone or someone’s comment does not mean that, we should be DISCOURTEOUS with that person or engage in PERSONAL ATTACKS, although emotions can sometimes lead to unforseen circumstances.
GOD BLESS ALL FORUMITES and GOD BLESS THE SIERRA LEONE TELEGRAPH.
Personally, I’m pleased to see that the international community keeps reminding former President Ernest Koroma about maintaining the peace and stability that he inherited from late President Tejan Kabba of the SLPP even when his party lost the 2007 presidential election. The international community ( especially the UN) has been using Sierra Leone as a success story and example of peace enforcement after the late Rebel Leader Foday Sankoh was captured and former President Charles Taylor of Liberia is currently serving a life sentence for crimes against humanity in our nation.
In September 2008 after the UNAMSIL departed from Sierra Leone, former President Koroma started laying the foundation of the corruption that bankrupted our country by 2018; and that’s the reason why most Sierra Leoneans are now calling for Equal Rights and Justice from the Commissioners of the Inquiry set up by President Bio. I believe that the international community are still suspicious of former President Koroma after he became the lifetime chairman and leader of the APC then later unconstitutionally fired his elected Vice President Chief Sam Sumana during the height of the Ebola. Thanks to the Almighty the former Vice President was a peaceful citizen and never called for an uprising which would have been devastating for our country.
Finally I hope and pray that the international community will keep pulling the his ears (Koroma) after his handpicked successor Dr. Samura Kamara’s disappointing result from the 2018 presidential election, and as long as former president Koroma is still the lifetime chairman and leader of the APC, he still has the potential of destabilizing the peaceful atmosphere that he inherited from late President Tejan Kabba and former Vice President Solomon Berewa when both retired from politics and served as elderly statesmen after the 2007 presidential election.
It is very easy to discern or distinguish those who, despite their knowledge, cannot help their emotions from those who use raw facts in an argument or debate. Those who are quickly engulfed by emotions, if they are women endowed with abundant hips, are the ones who would move closer to their opponent, clap over his head/her head, spin around, bounce their hips for them to hit the back of their head, just to utter nonsense. If it’s a man he would be the type that would want to get into a physical fight in a split second.
Life is indeed a learning process, but I like learning from those who epitomise objectivity – whatever the subject. This is why when I come upon a history book on Africa, written by a non-African,particularly a European,I read it with wariness because I doubt its objectivity or veracity.
I tend to be on the side of brevity in my comments so as to confine myself to the guidelines of The Telegraph. I have read the history of the Nobel Peace Committee and I have come away with the understanding that they have always adhered to the noun – PEACE.The Committee is made up of human beings which means they make mistakes since they cannot read the human mind to fully understand all idiosyncrasies.
One such mistake on hind sight was when they awarded the prize to the Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi who later proved not to be a peaceful person by her stance on the Muslim population in Burma who have had to flee their homes to escape being murdered. I don’t think The Nobel Committee is about to make the same mistake in the case of Ernest, who cannot utter a single word of peace whenever ACC wants to interview him to caution his supporters not to resort to violence. If the Nobel Committee,in their wisdom decide to award their prize to Ernest, from President Bio all the way down cannot stop them.
Sitting heads of state have been awarded the prize numerous times.As things stand in our country would they consider President Bio? Never,because he seems unable to quell political violence. I am not APC or SLPP,I am a Sierra Leonean,I have trouble dealing with emotional arguments.May the Almighty Allah allow the APC sun to rise again only at the right time.
It’s indeed disheartening for any patriotic Sierra Leonean devoid of any nefarious undertone, in likes of political party first, rather than the country, to even remotely suggest that EBK is worth considering for a noble peace prize. I really cannot fathom how anyone who in the past decade has been following political events back home and have at least visited more than 5 times could consciously promote such a far fetched accolade, taking into consideration our country’s current deplorable state after 10yrs in office.
Like many Sierra Leoneans, I was a staunch supporter of EBK during his first term in office. Unlike the current regime, the first term of EBK was full of hope and accomplishment. Despite the rampant corruption in his predecessor (pa Kabbah’s) government, EBK was much more focused on fostering unity and attract foreign investment in our nation.
In his first 100 days, the once dark city of Freetown was electrified even though reports later surfaced that, the then energy minister, HaJa Hafsatu Kabba, used dubious means to procured the electricity contract. In the months that followed, major road projects like Wilkinson road, the Freetown ring project encompassing major roads like the Jomo keyatta road, blackhall road, signal hill, etc and in many other provincial headquarter towns. For a long time, there was glimmer of hope in the horizon, thinking Salone will at last rise from the ashes.
The fight against corruptions was very much in high gear as we are witnessing today, although not highly political and divisive. After revamping the ACC Act in 2008, the then ACC czar, Mr. Abdul Tejan Cole was very much focused on making headways to minimize corruption. In a very short time, we witnessed big political heavy weights like, the former Freetown mayor George H Williams, former aviation minister Kemor Sesay, the former minister of energy Haja Kabbah, and many others all charged to court and dismissed from office by the EBK regime. While the penalties awarded to these convicts were nothing to write home about, EBK was at least setting a prime example, not condoning any actions contrary to his party manifesto.
All was mostly well until EBK was given a second term. Almost overnight, our nation’s coffers were up for grabs; with EBK leading the pack, and majority of his ministers were competing each other in amassing wealth and real estate. Like the popular saying in our local parlance “I scratch your back, you scratch my back” EBK was immediately transformed as a deity within the APC party.
On several occasions, cabinet ministers will leave their respective offices, head to Lungi to welcome back EBK in his foreign trips. Almost in all corners of the APC party, the man was worshipped more than our creator; no one dared to speak the truth or question any of his actions. Before we knew it, he was calling for a third term. When he failed, he imposed on the party a candidate of his choice that he could have remotely controlled.
I can go on and on listing the many destabilizing actions taken by EBK that could not be ever considered as peaceful, however, I am sure majority of Sierra Leoneans will give testimony to his unpatriotic and dubious deeds.
Young4na, I don’t really enjoy belaboring the issue of Ernest Koroma’s moral bankruptcy. But I am at loss as to how you would argue that EBK’s first term in office was promising. This is a man whose first cabinet was full of his tribesmen and regional comrades. How could that be calculated as bringing the nation together? That notwithstanding, EBK sent his thugs led by Leatherboot to beat up and rape innocent SLPP women during his first 100 days in office. Can that be considered a mark of promising leadership?
I wish I could see what you saw in EBK that impressed you; but to me, the man easily qualifies as the worst head of state or head of government that Sierra Leone has ever had. Now, before anyone casts me as a die-hard Maada Bio guy, let me state that the current discussion is about Ernest Koroma. When Maada Bio becomes the focus of a discussion, I would have a lot to say.
Alright,its time once again to clarify matters of great importance,and teach a few lessons (lol). Firstly,the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded since 1901, annually,without hindrances,in many different fields,and categories,especially to those individuals,or groups like the Red Cross,that have contributed immensely,and selflessly to the enhancement of fraternity between nations,for the abolition,and reduction of standing armies hell-bent on pursuing an agenda of intimidation,and aggression,and for the holding,and promotion of congresses,that facilitate Peace,within,or between nations.
Most Prudent minds,will agree that if this SLPP government does not stand in the way of EBK,with their malicious,vindictive intentions,the Former President is without doubt,a prime candidate for the prestigious award.He represents a new breed of African leaders,who are resolutely changing our world for the better. Haters,will continue to hate. Fine! Hyenas will continue to thirst for APC blood.Grrrr! But make no delusional mistakes, consideration will eventually come in the nearest future,meticulously highlighting the good work EBK has already done,and that which he is selflessly continuing for the promotions of unity,Peace,and understanding between nations.Rising Sun Will Rise Again.
It seems to be part of the human condition that quite often in retrospect we are cleverer and sometimes full of remorse.Any such remorse is intensified when for one reason or the other we cannot say we are sorry to those we have hurt the most. Ernest Koroma is in such quandary today. He seizes the opportunity of participating in international gatherings to redeem himself from the pangs of the negative thoughts which he knows most Sierra Leoneans hold of him,helped in a significant way by the revelations coming out of the Commissions of Inquiry.
No one is claiming that all that happened in the Koroma era, which adversely affected the country, was personally directed by Ernest himself, but he will never be able to dodge vicarious liability.
The question is if Ernest knew so much about peace and development, why did he not apply such knowledge during his presidency to move his country through the stratosphere,or at least seen to be in that mode? What he says on the international stage means little or nothing to us because there is no evidence of it anywhere in our dear country.
One has to therefore wonder whether his international visitor asked Ernest to show a single tangible evidence of his statesmanship, even while concealing the incredible corruption which characterised his ten years in power. We must take a very close look at some of those who have earned the Nobel peace prize before we remotely entertain the probability of Ernest being considered for it: Nelson Mandela won it for his exemplary leadership upon being released from prison after almost thirty years by the appatheird regime in South Africa. He did not call for revenge,instead he called for peace and harmony,even meeting and taking pictures with the wife of the judge who sentenced him. Anwar Sadat,the former late president of Egypt won it after reaching a peace agreement with Israel after the 1973 Yom kippur war.And lately Abiy Ahmed,Prime Minister of Ethiopia,won it for his effort to bring peace to the Horn of Africa,even going to the extent of formally ending his country’s war footing with neighbouring Eritrea. Where does Earnest Koroma fit in?
Of all the leaders we have had,only President Kabba should be considered for the Nobel peace price,albeit posthumously.That man did all he could to end our civil war to make us go to sleep and wake up in the same bed,not in the hereafter.On that score he was/is the greatest leader we have ever produced.
“The question is if Ernest knew so much about peace and development, why did he not apply such knowledge during his presidency to move his country through the stratosphere,or at least seen to be in that mode?” Santhkie Sorie
Mr. Santhkie Sorie, the one hour or so drive from Freetown to Ernest Koroma’s mansion in Makeni should tell Koroma’s guest how morally bankrupt the Sahr Matturi-endorsed saint and former president is. Koroma lives in a $6 million mansion located on an oasis in the middle of grinding and endemic poverty. While the average citizen in Makeni ekes out a living on an income that is less than a dollar a day, Koroma lives in extravagance derived from an eleven-year career in brazen looting and plunder.
Notwithstanding Koroma’s grand theft of state resources in Sierra Leone, we all know how the man bastardized the constitution by dispatching his thugs to beat up and rape women in the SLPP headquarters in Freetown in the early part of his dictatorship and how later in his chaotic rule sacked his equally crooked and corrupt Vice President.
Koroma is also a man who was famous for filling the ranks of his government with his tribesmen, his regional comrades and his close friends and relatives. Should Koroma be nominated for the Nobel peace prize as Sahr Matturi suggests, I would see nothing wrong with dictator, Alpha Conde, in neighboring Guinea, being recommended for the coveted position of pope of Rome.
Some of you guys are in the business of making demigods out of men – a rather unfortunate situation that we’ve got in our hands. What makes the situation even more unfortunate is that whenever I visit this site, and read through the comment section, I see so much potential in men and women who seem to have all that it takes to do and say the right things, but who have also decided to take the other route and make a mockery out of reality.
It’s really a disheartening site to witness ‘scholarly-ready’ men engaging in such unnecessary disingenuous conversations with themselves. But then again, I suppose what is happening here is just a mere glimpse of the complexity of the the human condition. And whether man is vastly educated or not, really doesn’t make any difference when it comes to matters such as this or anything related.
I reckon that, former President Ernest Bai Koroma will soon receive the NOBEL PEACE PRIZE earlier than expected. Since he retired as President, he has been invited and contacted to participate in PEACE SEMINARS, MISSIONS, MEETINGS, you name it, all over the GLOBE. WHAT! WHAT! YEAH.
Very impressive and extraordinary. This POLITICAL GENIUS and GLOBALLY RESPECTED former HEAD OF STATE is unique and first of its kind in Africa with regards to PEACE and UNITY not only in his home Sierra Leone but more importantly, GLOBALLY. That’s the real DEAL. Can you imagine? He is just pushing with his peace initiative to make sure that, the WORLD becomes a safer place for MANKIND. Only his DETRACTORS and the so called VAGABONDS outside his circle will think otherwise. Bottom line, our former Presidents must be respected. Have to. PERIOD.
Where I admire him most is, the energy he still has to continue one of the most difficult issues in the world – advocating for PEACE and UNITY, especially this time of our lives where DEMOCRACY is under threat.
Sierra Leone must be LUCKY and BLESSED to have a former LEADER like former President Ernest Bai Koroma. His LEADERSHIP till now is second to none. Who dare challenge me on this statement.
Whether, in FREETOWN, MAKENI, LISBON, NAMIBIA or SIERRA LEONE, the world is always anxious to communicate with him. Also, let me don’t forget to thank the former FIRST LADY Sia Koroma for her support to the former President. Behind every successful MAN, there is always a HARDWORKING and DEDICATED IRON WOMAN/LADY. ARGUE/DENNY.
I pray that the former President live long to pass his EXPERIENCE and KNOWLEDGE to all MANKIND.
LONG LIVE both former President Ernest Bai Koroma and former FIRST LADY Sia Koroma. GOD BLESS the PEACE INITIATIVE and PEACE MISSION of former President Ernest Bai Koroma. AMEN AND AMEN.
Wow!!! I wonder in what planet some of these guys live? A Nobel peace prize for tiffy tiffy Ernest Koroma? Does this guy understand what the requirements are for a Nobel peace prize? So all of a sudden the prestigious Nobel prize should be adulterated by offering it to a former dictator who bankrupted his country through the pilfering of public funds? A man who is under serious investigation in his country for stealing with impunity and bastardizing the constitution of his country? Lord have mercy!!!
The Great Sayedna at his best. It’s like words in motion. I know you can do it … my brother. Keep it up! Don’t think of any counteracting forces ahead of your literary journey. It will be smooth like the Great Eagle soaring the skies.
A million thanks for your sincere, kind and generous words my brother Alimamy, “Lion That Rules The Den”, highly appreciated. Whenever a majestic Lion encourages a Young Cub, it becomes emboldened to the point that, it not only seizes the prey, but it subdues, incapacitates it, and rips it completely to pieces.(lol) Rising Sun Will Rise Again.
Great men,will always be sought out by other great men for consultations,and advice. It must be so! The Former President is highly respected worldwide for the Peace,and stability he has nurtured,and maintained in our beloved nation during his two terms in office.
Peace is the beacon of light that leads the ways of progress; that enables it to climb like an eagle,without hindrance to unreachable heights. Word to the wise!
Without an atmosphere of genuine, sustainable Peace all the riches in the world would become as worthless as grains of dust.The former President is a kind,and gentle soul,and you can tell just by carefully studying the man. His every move is graceful, and unobtrusive. He’s always beaming with smiles of deepest joy,that resembles those of a loving Father surrounded by his healthy happy family.
That angry, belligerent, vindictive look that can be seen,day in and out,in the eyes,and on the face of Maada Bio,is something you can never associate with EBK.True.
First it was the African Union, that needed his attention, advice, and expertise,and now it is Horasis, that has come knocking to pay their respects to an incomparable living, and thriving APC legend.
Indeed, Kings and Queens come and go, Prime minsters and Presidents will always come and and go, and many are quickly forgotten. But in Sierra Leone,my only home,the Old Wise Stevens and the Gentle EBK will forever be remembered fondly, and they will always remain etched with endearing love on our hearts and minds. Rising Sun Will Rise Again.
Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s ……having said that, I hope and pray that EBK will help his fellow APC colleagues by stepping down as ‘chairman for life everlasting’. That title can only be heard and used in North Korea. We need EBK to champion problems like climate change, reducing adult illiteracy or providing housing for the orphanage of the Mudslide and Ebola.
Time is running out for EBK, and so is the patience of the progressives in that party. Take my advice, Time waits for no man; and hand over in dignity rather wait for you to be asked out. Concerning the current on going COI, I’ll say, one is innocent until proven guilty!