By Politico staff Writer
President Julius Maada Bio has awarded Sierra Leonean passports to 22 African Americans after they were accorded citizenship of the country.
The African-Americans, according to a State House press release, traced their origin to Sierra Leone through DNA results, most of them with roots from Bo and Tonkolili districts.
While handing over the passports at a ceremony in Freetown on the 5th January 2021, the President welcomed them home, noting that their coming was not just about sightseeing or experiencing another culture for culture’s sakes, but that they were also about to fulfil their curiosity and satisfy some long-held dream of making a spiritual pilgrimage to Sierra Leone.
President Bio said: “So, while others may invent history for the purpose of marketing tourism, you have lived your own history through over 400 years. This is the land of our mutual ancestors who were to later work rice fields and plantations that sustained the economies of the 13 British Colonies in the Americas.
“This is the land of Sengbeh Pieh of the Amistad revolt. This is the land of the rice coast, of the Gullahs, of folktales about the trickster, of handicraft, of food ways, of seeking rituals, and the call and response of African-American song and dance. This is Sierra Leone”.
He said Sierra Leone as a country had come a very long way from slavery and colonialism, through repressive dictatorships, bad governance, corruption, epidemics and natural disasters and civil wars, adding that his government had worked hard to restore the dignity of the country.
He recalled that the 2020 Global Peace Index ranked the country as the 46th most peaceful country in the whole world and 5th most peaceful country in Africa.
“The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention rates as Tier 1 low risk. We have fewer than 3% case fatality ratio and only 76 recorded deaths. We are rated with a significantly lower violent crime rate. We have a free press, a free society, decongesting prisons, and working hard to build resilience in every facet of our nation,” he said.
He added that his government was creating an enabling environment for the private sector to flourish, protect investments and support the establishment of businesses and organizations that would touch lives either through direct employment or social capital impact.
One of the new citizens, Dynast Abefe Adewale Amir, expressed gratitude to the president for officially receiving them as citizens of Sierra Leone. He described the event as an emotional moment for them, adding that they were already pleased with the love they enjoyed from the President and citizens of the country.
Most of the awardees committed to contribute to the growth and development of Sierra Leone through various investments.
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