His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio has received letters of credence from five accredited diplomats to the Republic of Sierra Leone during a formal presentation ceremony at the presidency.

They include three women and two men, among them the Ambassador of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Apostolic Nuncio of His Holiness the Pope, the High Commissioner of Canada, the High Commissioner of Australia, and the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark.

President Bio congratulated the new heads of missions in Sierra Leone on their appointments and formally welcomed them on behalf of his government and the country’s people. He assured them of peace and stability and talked about the transformation his government had embarked on in the past five years.

He also encouraged them to strengthen the existing healthy diplomatic relationships between their countries and Sierra Leone, stressing that his government was looking forward to stronger bilateral relations that would benefit their governments and people.

President Julius Maada Bio later proposed a toast to the health and beautiful relationship between the Republic of Sierra Leone and the five countries. The new heads of mission responded to the toast and assured of their continued support for Sierra Leone’s government’s human capital development policy, capacity building, tourism, cultural exchange, and strengthening mutually beneficial relations.

They expressed appreciation for the warm welcome and hospitality accorded them by the President, noting that they felt honoured to present their letters of credence and hoped to be able to represent their countries well in Sierra Leone.