NATIONALATIONAL CHAIRMAN OF SLPP JOHN OPONJO BENJAMIN MEETS CHAIR OF THE UK SELECT FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

   Mike Gapes – Chair Foreign Affairs Committee and John Oponjo Benjamin –Chair of Sierra Leone Peoples Party with members of the SLPP UK & Ireland branch at the House of Commons in London

 The Chairman of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party – John Oponjo Benjamin (JOB) who is on a weeklong visit to the UK on Tuesday met Mike Gapes  - Chair of UK Select Foreign Affairs Committee responsible for monitoring the policy, administration and expenditure of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and its associated public bodies, including the British Council and the BBC World Service.  

In an hour long meeting, JOB thanked Mr Gapes and the British Government for their continued support in guaranteeing the peace and security of Sierra Leone and for the recent intervention culminating in the signing of a communiqué between the APC Government and the SLPP on 2^nd April 2009 following the violent attacks on the SLPP offices. 

He informed Mr Gapes of developments in Sierra Leone including the erosion of democratic structures and institutions put in place by the former SLPP government, the increase in violent attacks on the SLPP and its supporters and of the paradigm shift in SLPP policy akin to “pouring water on fire” that is not to engage the APC in violence but to work in partnership to secure civil rights, peace and tranquillity for the people of Sierra Leone. 

He impressed on Mr Gates, the need to give credit to the former SLPP government for re-building and laying the foundations for good governance in Sierra Leone and for smoothly transitioning into an opposition party. He requested that the British Government should bolster the work of the SLPP in providing an effective opposition which will work in partnership with the APC to provide the checks and balances that will not only ensure good governance but assure that the developmental goals and aspirations of the people of Sierra Leone are met.

Mr Gapes, who visited Sierra Leone during the tenure of the SLPP government, assured Mr Benjamin he would convey the request to the British Government and reiterated the experiences of the labour party in opposition. He said the true test of a maturing democracy was its enduring cycle of regime change and acknowledged that the former SLPP government of President Kabbah left a legacy of good policies. He suggested that Mr Benjamin should also visit the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, the UK public body, which promotes democratic institutions overseas.

National SLPP Chairman John Benjamin, UK Chair Harold Saffa & Chair UK Council of Elders Alhaji Khalil Mustapha with UK Branch members in Parliament Square  - House Parliament & Big Ben in the background.