John Arouna Karimu is a Mende hailed from Daru Village, Kailahun District, in the Eastern Region of Sierra Leone.
He was a Lecturer at Fourah Bay College, where he met his wife Gertrude Gbessay Karimu née Sellu who was a student there as well.
In that election, Karimu received 5.3% of the national vote and lost easily to Ahmed Tejan Kabbah.
In December 1996, Karimu accepted a position in the cabinet of Kabbah as the Secretary of Housing and Environment.
He later became the Commissioner of the National Revenue Authority(NRA)-The highest paid civil Servant in Sierra Leone.