President Ernest Bai Koroma and delegation will be taking off for Freetown tomorrow from West Virginia after a very successful tour of four different states apart from New York where he had attended the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. In New Jerseyover the weekend, President Koroma was given a red-carpet welcome by Franklin Township officials and Sierra Leoneans, held meetings with members of the All People’s Congress (APC ) North America Branch and the APC New Jersey Chapter and attended a Fund-Raising Banquet at the Ukranian Cultural Centre .
PRESIDENT ERNEST KOROMA
From New Jersey ,President Koroma made a State Visit to Boston on Sunday September 25 as guest of the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Governor Deval Patrick . He then attended a Presidential Reception at the Boston Marriot Copley in a program put together by members of the Sierra Leone Community, the Society for the Advancement of Sierra Leoneans in Massachusetts (SASLAMA, Inc.), APC New England/Boston Chapters, SLPP, PMDC, Muslim and Christian Organizations in Massachusetts, Tegloma of New England and Individual efforts. The event was sponsored by the Akar Auto Inc, the Amistad Committee of New Haven, Connecticut and the 7 Hills Foundation.
President Koroma next visited Georgia on Monday September 26 where he held a crucial meeting with executives of Delta Airlines in plans to have the airlines start a direct U.S to Freetown flight , which will help to boost commerce and tourism in Sierra Leone.
In Indiana today Tuesday September 27 , President Koroma delivered a public lecture at the famous Notre Dame University. The theme of the lecture was :” Faith, Freedom, Religious Tolerance and Progress “. The key issues in the theme make up the umbrella of good governance ,which is the hallmark of President Koroma’s stewardship. The President told the students and professors and lectures about the religious freedom and tolerance that exist in Sierra Leone with muslims and christians worshipping God peacefully alongside each other in an impressive multi-religious setting. He also highlighted his accomplishments in governance , encompassing his Agenda For Change program built around the pillars of Energy, Agriculture,transportation and human development and also designed to reduce poverty, spur economic growth and consolidate peace and security. President Koroma also told his audience his plans to transform Sierra Leone into modern nation with a strong economy .
President Koroma is now in West Virginia where he was invited by the Coal Mining and Timber Industries which want to begin operating in Sierra Leone. The Timber Company wants to go to Sierra Leone to explore the possibility of adding value to the country’s timber industry . Since the provision of energy is one of the centre pieces of President Koroma’s Agenda For Change, West Virginia, a state producing abundant coal, wants to explore the possibility of doing business with Sierra Leone, which would see them export coal to the country to boost her energy aspirations.
Tomorrow morning, President Koroma will travel by helicopter to see sawmills and coal mining operations.
The President and party will leave later on in the afternoon for Freetown onboard the private jet that brought them to the U.S. for the UN General Assembly.
Sierra Leoneans in New York and New Jersey , who cannot have enough of President Koroma , received the news that President Koroma will not be taking off from Teteboro Airport in New Jersey (As originally planned ) with sadness. Some members of the President’s delegation who had broken off temporarily to visit friends and relatives in Wasshing ton DC and Virginia were to have travelled back to New Jersey to rejoin the party for the long flight back home. This evening, they were on their way to West Virginia where they will now hook up once again with the delegation for the flight home.
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