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Dr Abdul Rashid Koroma is a Sierra Leonean academic, a political scientist and an expert in post-conflict reconstruction and reintegration. Dr Koroma is also a consultant in national and international security.

Born in Segbwema town, Kailahun District, Eastern Sierra Leone from a predominantly Muslim background, Dr Koroma attended the Methodist Primary School in Segbwema. He proceeded to Wesley Secondary School Segbwema for his secondary education. Whilst at Wesley Secondary School, he was one of the best students the school produced at the time, although he had to proceed to Christ the King College (CKC) Bo, where he passed his ‘O’ Levels, and later enrolled for his Advance Levels in 1995/96 academic year.

After the completion of his Advanced Levels at CKC, he worked for Action Contra La Faim (ACF), (1995 - 2000) as Logistics Officer, where he helped the organisation to develop contingency plans, and implemented methodologies and tools to enable effective execution of the organisation’s logistics plans. He also helped ACF to formulate specific Standard Operating Procedures, including policies and guidelines for field logistics support throughout ACF’s operational zones in West Africa. During this period, Koroma also managed all logistics operations in the sub region, including management of logistics assets, contracts and personnel. In addition, he coordinated and tracked all shipments, managed all ACF’s warehouses, analysed supply chain systems and oversaw all security issues for both local staff and expatriates in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

Following the escalation of the civil-war in Sierra Leone, Koroma emigrated to the United Kingdom in 2000. Like many other Sierra Leoneans, Abdul was affected directly by the conflict. His family home in Kabalahun section in Segbwema was completely burnt down and his village, Mano Menima, was also completely destroyed by the AFRC/RUF alliance in 1998, after the overthrow of the democratically elected government of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. The destruction of his village was in relation to one of his relatives, Mr Lansana Koroma, a senior Kamajor commander in the region, firmly opposing the alliance’s advances into the region. Thus, a culmination of these issues prompted Dr Koroma to have firm interest in a career ambition in national security and post-conflict reconstruction in societies emerging from violence conflict.

Whilst studying for his BA at the University of London, UK (2006 - 2009), Abdul served as a consultant for Sovereign Security Services, UK, where he played important roles in the safety and successful running of the company, including hospitality, ensured workplace safety, ensured the welfare of the general staff and clients as well as advised and assisted management with security issues that may militate against the smooth running of the company.

Dr Koroma holds a PhD in International Politics from the University of Westminster, London. He also holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations from Kingston University, London.

His doctoral thesis ‘‘Lost Voices, Fragile Warriors: Social Capital, Reconciliation and the Reintegration of Former Combatants in Sierra Leone’’ offers an alternative perspective to post-conflict reintegration of former combatants by assessing the impacts of conflict on social capital, and exploring ways in which the effective social reintegration of former combatants may facilitate the restoration of social capital destroyed through the course of the conflict in Sierra Leone. His thesis promotes the achievement of sustainable reintegration and reconciliation in a post-conflict environment. Using workshops and training courses, detailed literature review and extensive fieldwork in Sierra Leone as ethnographical research methods, his thesis investigates how civil-conflict disrupts social capital and how the successful social reintegration and reconciliation of former combatants can restore it. It shows that where post-conflict reintegration occurs without reconciliation built on trust, coexisting peacefully might be an alternative to trust.

His thesis finds that bridging and bonding social capital has evolved in Sierra Leone, and that trust appeared as some kind of transitionary mechanisms that initiated with peaceful coexistence at the local level in particular. It also finds that social reconstruction does not rely solely on conventional measures like economic and political indicators, but may also benefit from using alternative perspectives and methods. It thus enhances current understandings of social capital dynamics and generates functional conclusions that can be used to create a fuller response to the changing dynamics of social capital as a result of civil-conflict in the future - and generate hope and aspiration for the ‘new’ Sierra Leone.

Some of the courses Dr Koroma has taught at the University of Surrey and Westminster University include but not limited to:

•	International Political Economy •	Conflict, insecurity and Underdevelopment •	International Order •	Refugees, Migration and Development •	Contesting Globalisation.