Vice President Mohamed Jukdeh Jalloh announced Koroma’s return on Friday while addressing traditional leaders and residents in Makeni, the former president’s political stronghold.
Jalloh said the decision was part of efforts to promote peace and national unity.
“In the spirit of peace and national cohesion, the former president Dr Ernest Bai Koroma will return to the country this weekend,” he said in a video shared on Facebook.
Koroma, who served as Sierra Leone’s president between 2007 and 2018, travelled to Nigeria in 2024 after authorities charged him in connection with the November 2023 violence.
He had initially received permission to remain in Nigeria for three months for medical treatment but stayed in the country for more than two years.
Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Justice announced in July that the charges against the former president had been withdrawn, although it did not disclose the reasons for the decision.
The charges stemmed from the November 2023 unrest, when armed men attacked a military armoury, two barracks, two prisons and two police stations, leading to clashes with security personnel.
The authorities eventually regained control, but 21 people were killed and hundreds of inmates escaped from the prisons during the violence.
Several soldiers and Koroma’s former bodyguard were later convicted by a military court and handed prison sentences ranging from 50 to 100 years over their alleged involvement in the uprising.
Koroma made a brief return to Sierra Leone in July after the charges were dropped. He attended an ECOWAS summit at the invitation of President Julius Maada Bio.
His planned return comes as Sierra Leone prepares for its next presidential election, scheduled for 2028.
