Police Communications Unit :
The deputy chief of mission at the Chinese Embassy, Mr Xinmin Wang today paid a courtesy call on the Inspector General of Police, Mr Francis Alieu Munu at the George Street Headquarters of the Sierra Leone Police. Welcoming the envoy, IG Munu commented on the long history of bilateral cooperation between the Government of Sierra Leone and China and drew attention to the fact that the Police Headquarters was built by the Chinese in 1982.
Mr Wang briefed the Inspector General on the duties of his office as Deputy Chief of Mission. He extended the warmest considerations of the Chinese Embassy team to the IGP and stressed the very cordial and meaningful relationship that exists between his duty station and the Sierra Leone Police. He mentioned some key points of concern to the Embassy and for which he required the OGPs attention. One of these was to campaign for support from the Sierra Leone Police for the candidacy of China to the INTERPOL governance committee at the forthcoming Inaugural meeting of INTERPOL in Rwanda. Mr. Wang also raised the issue of reports in the newspapers about a Sierra Leonean trader being allegedly beaten to death by the Chinese at Bintumani Hotal.
In his response, IG Munu informed the Envoy that as far as he was aware, Sierra Leone would not be represented at the forthcoming meeting of INTERPOL in Rwanda since that country does not accept citizens from the three countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia on account of Ebola. However, on the interjection of the envoy that a prior meeting yesterday with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, he was apprised that the Sierra Leonean delegation to that meeting would be dawn from staff at Addis Ababa, the IGP confirmed that upon satisfactory assurances that the Sierra Leone Police and security forces would be at the conference, then he would be very much considered to back the Chinese candidacy. On the matter of the alleged beating at Bintumani hotel, IG Munu informed the envoy that Police investigations into that matter have proved that the allegations are baseless and that CCTV footage exonerated the Chinese officials at the said Hotel. He lamented the fact that Newspapers have to write salubrious articles for sensationalism and they depend on such news to secure higher sales figures. In respect to that incident, Mr. Munu confirmed that the Police would not be taking that matter any further.
Mr Wang thanked the IGP for his words of encouragement and offered his highest considerations for the IGP. Present at the meeting were AIG Kalia Sesay, Director of Peacekeeping, AIG Kabia, Director of Support Services, Mr Aiah Senesie, Head of Finance, and Mr Titus Boye-Thompson, Communications Consultant to the Sierra Leone Police.
