Sierra Leone’s President Leone Koroma sworn in

The President of Sierra Leone Ernest Bai Koroma was inaugurated on Friday at National Stadium in the capital city, Freetown.The inauguration ceremony attracted about 15 high delegations from the world including Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Jiang Weixin Special envoy of Chinese President Hu Jintao and the minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development also attend the ceremony.Addressing thousands of Sierra Leoneans and the invited guests at Stadium which was built by the Chinese government, President Koroma called on his people to be patriotic and put country before self. He asked them to be persistent in pushing forward the nation’s democratic and development aspirations.“Let us thrive to live in harmony always seeking to resolve our differences by peaceful means,” he said.This is Koroma’s second and final inauguration as prescribed by the west African country’s Constitution. Sierra Leone’s National Electoral Commission (NEC) announced on Nov. 23, 2012, that Ernest Bai Koroma has been re-elected as Sierra Leone’s President for a second term with 58.7 percent of favorable vote.President Koroma reiterated his government’s commitment to enhancing education by providing the necessary enabling environment in building Technical and Vocational centers investing more in higher education.He recalled the strides he made in his first term in the area of education by introducing compulsory free primary education and paying the fees of all school children. He promised that the new government “will do more.”The president, who in his state opening of parliament in December, 2012, dedicated his second term to the youths of Sierra Leone, re-emphasized his commitment to the youth development.Before President Koroma’s state address, Liberian President Sirleaf delivered her goodwill message on behalf of her colleague heads of state of Africa congratulating Koroma’s victory and Sierra Leone’s peaceful electoral process.Ernest Bai Koroma was elected President in 2007. He also contested in the 2002 presidential elections, and served as the leader of the parliamentary opposition from 2002 to 2007.