MAKENI — Vice President Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh has disclosed that former President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma is expected in Freetown this weekend before travelling to Makeni the following week.
Dr. Jalloh made the announcement in Makeni while on the government’s Regional Decentralisation Tour, where he met Paramount Chiefs, local council officials and other stakeholders on how to strengthen local government and bring services closer to the people.
He said former President Koroma’s planned stop in Freetown and then his hometown of Makeni would give room for further engagement with stakeholders and communities.
The Vice President is Chairman of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Local Governance and Decentralisation. In mid-August he took the same consultations to Kenema and Bo, inaugurating regional coordination committees and listening to chiefs and councils on funding, capacity and the relationship between chiefdom authorities and local councils. He has said the tour will continue at district level so that reforms are practical, not just paper policies from Freetown.
Koroma, who is from Makeni, returned to Sierra Leone in July 2026 after the government discontinued treason proceedings linked to the November 2023 attacks in Freetown. He had spent more than two years outside the country, including time in Nigeria under an ECOWAS-facilitated arrangement. He attended the ECOWAS Mid-Year Summit in Freetown shortly after his return.
On the margins of that summit, Vice President Jalloh, former President Koroma and Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion Executive Secretary Hawa Sally Samai held what officials described as cordial talks on national cohesion, peace and regional cooperation.
Makeni remains both Koroma’s ancestral base and a political heartland of the opposition All People’s Congress. Any visit there after his long absence will be closely watched, as will his presence in Freetown this weekend.
Dr. Jalloh did not give exact dates, a detailed itinerary or the purpose of the former president’s engagements beyond saying they would allow further contact with stakeholders and communities. No official statement from Koroma’s office had been issued at the time of the Vice President’s remarks.
