page_title: Ernest Bai Koroma
section_title: Candidacy
hierarchical_section_title: Ernest Bai Koroma / Political career / Candidacy
caption_attribution_description: English: A man passes, in Freetown, posters for opposition candidate Ernest Bai Koroma (foreground) and the ruling SLPP ahead of presidential elections, 06 Aug 2007. Koroma was later elected President of Sierra Leone
context_page_description: Ernest Bai Koroma is a Sierra Leonean politician who served as the fourth President of Sierra Leone from 17 September 2007 to 4 April 2018.
  Born and raised in Makeni in northern Sierra Leone, Koroma spent more than 24 years working in the private insurance industry before entering politics in 2002. From 1988 to 2002, he was the managing director of the Reliance Insurance Trust Corporation.
  Koroma earned a bachelor's degree from Fourah Bay College in 1976; and is an insurance agent by profession.
  Koroma was elected as leader of the All People's Congress, Sierra Leone's main opposition party, on 24 March 2002, after defeating then-incumbent APC leader Edward Turay. Koroma stood as the APC candidate in the 2002 presidential election but was defeated in a free and fair election by incumbent President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, who won 70.3% of the vote, to Koroma's 22.35%. Koroma conceded defeat.
  Koroma was later elected to Parliament, 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.
context_section_description: Koroma was the APC presidential candidate in the August 2007 general election. His main rival for the presidency of Sierra Leone was incumbent Vice-President of Sierra Leone Solomon Berewa of the SLPP. Koroma stronghold was in Northern Sierra Leone, and in the Western Area of Sierra Leone. Berewa, on the other hand, maintained strong support in south-eastern Sierra Leone.
  Koroma was allegedly the target of an assassination attempt in the early hours of 23 July 2007 in Bo, Sierra Leone's second largest city (a traditional stronghold of the SLPP), when, according to the APC, a group of armed men led by Tom Nyuma, who was a participant in the 1992 coup that ousted the APC from power, attempted to enter Koroma's hotel room to kill him. Nyuma was severely beaten by Koroma's guards, and he was hospitalized as a result.
caption: A man passes, in Freetown, posters for APC candidate Koroma (foreground) and the ruling SLPP ahead of presidential elections, 6 August 2007.
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