Sierra Leone’s Minister of Social Welfare, Melrose Kaminty has on the 5th April 2024 received donation from the Chinese Embassy for Muslim communities in Sierra leone.

She has received Eight Hundred (800) bags of Twenty Five (25) Kilograms of Rice, Sixty (60) barrels of Ten (10) liters cooking oil and Thirty (30) bags of Fifty (50) Kilograms of Sugar, which was done at a donation ceremony and seminar on religious governance organized at the Chinese Embassy Spur Loop in Freetown Friday 5th April this year.

The Minster maintained that the gathering marked another important moment in her Ministry’s strategic partnership with the Embassy of China to Sierra Leone in their collective effort to support vulnerable groups, adding that Sierra Leone and China have enjoyed a very good relationship and mutual support over several decades.

She said that President Bio is well committed to enhancing strategies that may work in addressing these challenges through its five big game changers, with the FeedSalone as the flagship project.

She furthered that the outcome of one of those engagements was the initiation of the process of identifying themselves with the Muslim Community to mitigate that hardship through the provision of food and non-food items as part of their traditional iftar support. She furthered that since then, the support, encouragement and the fact of solidarity provided to the Muslim Community observing the Holy Month Ramadan continues to serve as a great inspiration.

She revealed that this gathering now represents a fundamental activity in her Ministry’s yearly calendar, to the extent that this gesture is expected by the Muslim Community during the Holy Month of Ramadan. She said that as we gradually come to the end of the Holy month of Ramadan, it was important to mention that this activity is a good way of celebrating the Eid AlFitr 2024.

Minister Melrose Karminty also made a passionate plea that the gathering do not only commit themselves to build bridges and celebrate the splendor of Islam during Eid, but also to collectively wage a war on drug and substance abuse, mainly Kush that is currently ravaging our nation’s youthful population and will adversely affect the full implementation of their five main development priorities, she also called on other diplomatic missions, the private sector and humanitarian organizations to emulate the exemplary gesture of the Chinese Embassy by supporting her Ministry in its strides to improve the quality of life of vulnerable groups thereby providing the much needed opportunities to our young people, women, persons with disabilities and other marginalized groups as a strategy to curb down the increasing social menace in our country.

She said that she was looking forward to collaborating and partnering with all organizations in the sector in rolling out the Ministry’s Five years Strategic Plan, which has also prioritized the fight against Drug and Substance Abuse (Kush), addressing street begging among persons with disabilities through skills training, construction of office space among others.