Makeni- Saturday 19th September 2026: Former President Ernest Bai Koroma has used a dinner held in his honour in Makeni to call for a renewed national focus on entrepreneurship, private enterprise and the opportunities they can create for Sierra Leone’s young people.
Speaking at a homecoming dinner reception at the Wusum Hotel on Saturday evening, Dr. Koroma said public service and politics should not be regarded as the only avenues to success. Drawing on his own experience in the private sector before entering public life, he said entrepreneurship, investment and enterprise could create jobs, generate wealth and contribute significantly to national development. The reception was organised as part of his homecoming programme in Makeni.
He also returned to themes that have featured prominently in his reflections since coming back to Sierra Leone: peace, national cohesion and the need to look beyond narrow or parochial interests. Sierra Leoneans, he said, should concentrate on issues rather than individuals and work towards a country in which everyone has the opportunity to live a better life.
Dr. Koroma said the reception he had received since arriving in the country, and particularly the warmth shown to him in Makeni, had been deeply moving. He acknowledged that the affection shown by the people had at times made him reflect on his years in office and wish he had done even more.
But his time away from Sierra Leone had also given him new perspectives. Referring to the more than two and a half years he spent in Abuja, he said he intended to draw on those experiences in establishing a foundation through which he could continue serving Sierra Leone, particularly in areas where he saw gaps in peacebuilding, national cohesion and development.
The evening was as much about personal memories as it was about public service.
Speaker after speaker spoke of Dr. Koroma’s kindness, generosity and accessibility, while recalling his style of leadership and his ability to bring people together. The programme included a chairman’s address by former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara, goodwill messages, a citation presented by Sylvia Koroma, a special gift from Sylvester Sillah Koroma and an address by the former president.
Mr. Kamara, who chaired the occasion, used several anecdotes to illustrate what he described as Dr Koroma’s humility, compassion and capacity to serve as a rallying point for people from different backgrounds. He also spoke of the former president’s particular connection with ordinary Sierra Leoneans.
For childhood friend Abdul K. Mansaray, there was little surprise in the qualities that have come to define Dr Koroma in public life. Proposing a toast on behalf of their childhood friends, Mr Mansaray traced those qualities to the home in which they grew up, where Wesleyan Christian values and the strict discipline of Dr Koroma’s parents, Pa Sylvanus and Mama Alice, played a central role.
Dr. Koroma’s daughter, Alice Mansaray, spoke with similar affection about her father’s enduring bond with Makeni. Whatever the circumstances or whatever people might say about him, she said, his heart remained firmly attached to the city of his birth.
She expressed gratitude for the reception given to her father since his return and attributed much of his attachment to Makeni, as well as his values of kindness and service, to the example set by his parents. She also thanked Mr Sillah Koroma for organising and financing the dinner.
The former First Lady, Sia Nyama Koroma, was visibly pleased as she reflected on the several decades she has shared with her husband. She recalled the warmth with which the people of Makeni had embraced her as a daughter from Kono who had married their son and brother.
Mrs. Koroma reinforced the references to the disciplined and deeply religious home in which her husband was raised, describing the values instilled by Pa Sylvanus and Mama Alice as an important influence on the man he became. She, too, expressed appreciation to the organisers.
For Mr. Sillah Koroma, the evening was an expression of personal gratitude. He recalled that he had approached the former president about the idea while Dr Koroma was still in Abuja and that the response had been immediate.
He said Dr Koroma had influenced his own life and career, and that the reception was a modest attempt to acknowledge that impact. His daughter, Sylvia Koroma, read a citation recognising the former president’s years of public service and his enduring connection with Makeni and the Northern Region.
The formal programme ended with a vote of thanks and closing remarks before music and social interaction.
But the former president did not remain apart from the gathering. As the evening drew to a close, Dr Koroma moved around the room, greeting guests and speaking informally with friends, relatives and members of the community.
For a man returning to the city where he was born after years spent at the centre of national public life, the reception offered something more than ceremony: it was an evening of memories, personal gratitude and a conversation about what the next chapter of his public service might look like.