Koroma gets to finish the job of tranforming Sierra Leone

FREETOWN (AFP) - Ernest Koroma, credited with boosting his war-scarred nation's image and ushering in investment, has vowed to continue the tough job of transforming Sierra Leone in his second term of office as president.

The 59-year-old former insurance broker swept to victory in the first round of an election praised by observers. He now has stewardship of what promises to be one of world's fastest growing economies this year.

Blessed with rich mineral resources, yet blighted by corruption, high unemployment, high maternal death rates and poverty, Sierra Leone's challenges are great.

Koroma has insisted he is the man to meet them.

"The time for politics is over," he said, shortly after being sworn in Friday evening. "The moment for continuing the transformation has come."

He promised jobs and training for the country's youths, in construction, mining, agriculture and other sectors.

He promised to press ahead with ambitious infrastructure programmes, to fight for investment and to battle corruption.

And he promised to "protect and promote the rights of every woman, every man, youth, child, journalist, and civil society activist."

Koroma first swept to power in 2007 after winning a second round election in which he ousted the then-ruling Sierra Leone People's Party.

He promised then to clamp down on the corruption that has dogged the west African nation: there would be no sacred cows in his administration, he said.

But while he boosted the powers of the country's anti-graft body, it failed to make serious inroads into the problem.

Instead of jail terms it handed out fines, say analysts; and instead of going after the big fish, it prosecuted the small fry.

In particular, Koroma was accused of overlooking several scandals involving vice-president Sam Sumana, the subject of an Al-Jazeera expose which implicated him in the issuing of illicit timber export licences.

The allegations remain unproven and Sumana was Koroma's running mate as vice president once again.

Despite the criticisms, Koroma is credited with having improved the country's image as it recovered from a brutal 11-year conflict, which ended in 2002.

The country had descended into chaos and lawlessness under the rule of the All People's Congress (APC) regime of Joseph Momoh. He was toppled in 1992 during one of Africa's bloodiest conflicts, fueled by the sale of "blood diamonds".

Rebels hacked off the limbs of thousands of citizens during a campaign of terror involving the use of child soldiers in a war which left 120,000 dead.

Koroma's government has already improved the nation's devastated infrastructure, rebuilding roads, restoring electricity and overseeing a construction boom.

Investment has poured in, notably into the mining sector, and the start of iron-ore exports means the economy is expected to grow by a massive 21 percent this year.

Outgoing and affable, Koroma is known to drive around the capital on weekends, making impromptu visits to markets, to attend Friday prayers in mosques or church services on Sundays. His main hobby is lawn tennis.

A father of two, Koroma is a Temne, one of the two largest ethnic groups in Sierra Leone, born in northern Makeni in 1953. After graduating he taught briefly before going into the insurance business.

Having joined the APC as a student in 1974, Koroma was elected its leader in the run up to the 2002 presidential elections, which he lost against outgoing President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.