The  much-hyped visit of the President of the republic of Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, will begin today at 1:00 p.m. The visit, the first official one for President Koroma to The Gambia since his election, is to last for three days.

The programme of activities during the state visit are outlined as follow:

As part of the visit, according to official sources, President Koroma will this evening at 5.00 p.m. meet with members of the APC party executive Gambia Branch at the Ocean Bay Hotel.

Tomorrow, Friday he will visit Kafuta Agricultural Project from where he will later visit the Sulayman Junkung Hospital in Bwiam, before proceeding to Kanilai where he will visit the Kanilai Science and Technology Academy.

Also as part of his visit on Saturday, the Sierra Leonean President will continue to some state-of-the-art projects at the Gunjur Fisheries project, and then to Kololi where he will also visit the West African Insurance Institute. At 6:00 p.m. in the evening he will have a meeting with the native Sierra Leonean Community at the reception hall of the Independence Stadium.

At 8:00 p.m. a state banquet will be hosted in his honour at the Kairaba Beach Hotel.

On the final day of his visit, Sunday, President Koroma will attend service at the Trinity Church at Serekunda, from where he will also visit the Sierra Leonean High Commission. On the same day he will pay a courtesy call on the Gambia Ports Authority before his departure.

The two heads of state will hold a tete-a-tete at State House before President Koroma’s departure at 17:00p.m. on 13th April 2008.