Sorie Ibrahim Koroma

Sorie Ibrahim Koroma (born 1930 in Port Loko, Port Loko District, Sierra Leone – died sometime in the mid- to late 1990s) is a former Sierra Leonean politician and labor activist. He served as the Vice President of Sierra Leone from 1971 to retirement in 1985. He was a member of the Temne ethnic group.

Early history

After Koroma was educated in the Government Model School in Freetown and the Bo School in Bo, he went to work for the pre-independence government (1951 - 1958) after which he resigned and went into private business, where he was the first secreteary-general of the Sierra Leone Motor Transport Union.

Formation of the APC and Parliament

In 1960, he helped to found the All People's Congress (APC), which has since been one of the premier political parties in the country. In 1962, Koroma was elected as a Member of Parliament to the Parliament of Sierra Leone representing a district of Freetown, to which he was re-elected in the 1967 election.

Cabinet positions

After the 1967 coup d'etat by David Lansana and the return to civilian control in 1968, Koroma became the Minister of Trade and Industry in Siaka Steven's first cabinet. From 1968 until 1985, Koroma served various functions in the government, including Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources (1969 - 1971), Vice-President (1971 - 1985) and Prime Minister(1971 - 1975), Minister of Finance (1975 - 1978). He would continue in that position until 1978, when he was appointed First Vice-President after the APC declared itself the only legal party. Koroma was the First Vice President until he retired from politics to care more directly for his palm oil plantation near his birthplace in Port Loko.

References

* [http://www.sierra-leone.org/heroes9.html "Sierra Leonean Heroes: Fifty Men and Women Who Helped to Build Our Nation", 1988]