S Leone swears in new president
2007-09-18 09:03
Freetown - Ernest Bai Koroma took oath on Monday as Sierra Leone's new president after winning a tense run-off vote and vowed to wipe out graft and heal deep wounds in the impoverished war-scarred west African nation.
Koroma, 53, an opposition candidate who defeated outgoing vice-president Solomon Berewa, also pledged to improve the lives of Sierra Leoneans who lived in the world's second poorest country despite its vast diamond riches.
Koroma said: "We shall adopt zero tolerance on corruption and mismanagement of state funds. Sierra Leoneans have suffered for too long, we shall endeavour to ease your pain."
Many Sierra Leoneans survived on less than a dollar a day or were jobless, and faced perennial shortages of basic services such as running water and electricity.
120 000 people killed
Koroma said: "For this government, failure is not an option", the government "shall not hesitate to deal firmly with those who choose to operate outside the law".
Koroma was declared winner after he garnered 54.6% of the vote in the run-off in the first election to be held in this country after the pullout of 17 500 United Nations peacekeepers.
The election was the second after the end of a savage 10-year civil war, which ended in 2001.
One of the most brutal wars in living memory, it led to the deaths of some 120 000 people and saw tens of thousands having their limbs amputated by combatants.
The conflict was fuelled by the so-called "blood diamonds" which were used to finance the violence spree unleashed by the Revolutionary United Front rebel group, which started out with the aim of ending endemic corruption.
UN chief congratulates Koroma
On Monday, Koroma exhorted his countrymen to put their bloody past behind them. He said: "Let us begin the process of healing the wounds, let us resolve to reconcile ourselves as one nation."
UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday congratulated Koroma and hailed Sierra Leoneans for holding a largely peaceful election.
His press office said: "The Secretary-General ... commends all Sierra Leonean parties and their supporters for exercising patience and restraint during the tallying of the votes."
Koroma's victory, officially announced on Monday, was greeted with dances and songs by jubilant supporters of the All People's Congress (APC), which won 59 of the 112 elected seats in the unicameral parliament.
Hundreds of thousands of people, mainly dressed in the party colour, red, lined the streets to cheered Koroma as he drove to the State House.
The election, which unfolded under the shadows of tension and pre-poll violence was keenly watched as a test to see if the country had truly emerged from the bloodshed and unrest.
The polls were somewhat marred by attempted rigging and fraud, leading the national election commission to annul results from 477 of the 6 157 polling stations.