By Mohamed Fofanah.
Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China and the Chinese Ambassador to the country yesterday engaged the Sierra Leone People’s Party’s National Young Generation Council (NYGC) in a seminar co-organized by the Chinese Embassy in Freetown and the NYCG to learn from the Chinese Ambassador about nation-building.
Speaking at the prestigious Kona Lodge, Ambassador Chief Ernest Mbaimba Ndomahina realized that “for a nation to grow, a political party must be serious with its agendas for the people and the nation.”
Like the Communist Party of China (CPC), Ambassador Ndomahina noted that the SLPP must be a people-centered party, must respect leadership, and must also continue engaging the people for it to accomplish its political mission. Like the CPC, he said the SLPP has a disciplined and serious leadership that is serious and believes in bringing youths and young people out of near abject poverty while addressing the immediate needs of the people.
Ambassador Ndomahina said: “We must be a party that believes in the people. We must also believe that the party has been delivering what we’ve said we wanted to do in our Manifesto including human capital development and free quality education. We are also on agriculture, making sure that we eat what we grow and grow what we eat. We also believe in developing electricity and energy every month or a year we are improving on energy and of course, the fight against corruption, we must make sure that those fights are fought and won.”
The Chinese Ambassador to Sierra Leone, Hu Zhangliang said the CPC which is committed to communist ideals and socialist convictions, has united the Chinese people of all ethnic groups working tirelessly to achieve national independence to make China a prosperous and strong nation. But he said the SLPP and the CPC can share ideas and learn from each other.
He said: “The CPC let the people through great struggles completely toppled the three mountains free in China from being bullied, oppressed, and enslaved. We finally established a new China, the People’s Republic of China in 1949.” “The Chinese People have since become the masters of their country and their destiny.”
He added: “People’s democracy has been institutionalized and developed…more than 1.4 billion people are now living in a moderately prosperous society. In all respects, the Chinese People’s pursuit of a better life has constantly been achieved.”
Ambassador Zhangliang said the path of the CPC in the last 100 years has illustrated that the party has its roots in the people regardless of the variation of historical stages, or the changing of domestic and international landscapes, the CPC has remained committed to its fundamental purpose of wholeheartedly serving the people. He said it has adhered to the notion that development is for the people and its fruits should be shared by them after pursuing common prosperity of all.
He also told the SLPP NYGC that the CPC attaches great importance to uniting all forces that can be united, safeguarding the interests of the people instead of pursuing the party’s special interests.
Sierra Leone People’s Party’s National Secretary General, Umaru Napoleon Koroma said via Zoom Webinar that the SLPP was also formed alongside the ideologies of the CPC, and was admired for its “strong and admirable position of educating the people Sierra Leone and for removing them from poverty.”
He said: “We must continue to exist as a political party. As we celebrate our 50 years of relationship with the People’s Republic of China, the SLPP within or outside of power has always been a very big fan of the People’s Republic of China.”
For his part, the SLPP Young Generation Leader, Ing. Francis Alpha Kallon requested from the Chinese Ambassador cordial and bilateral relations between the two parties to share their experiences.
