Bintumani Conference Centre, Freetown, Tuesday 28 April 2026 โ His Excellency President Dr. @julius_maadabio, Leader of the governing Sierra Leone Peopleโs Party (SLPP), joined party faithful, supporters, dignitaries and invited guests in Freetown to commemorate the partyโs 75th anniversary, using the landmark occasion to call for unity, discipline, service and strategic preparedness ahead of the 2028 general election.
Held under the theme โ75 Years of Leadership, Legacy and Serviceโ, the Diamond Jubilee celebration reflected on the SLPPโs historic role in Sierra Leoneโs political development while setting a forward-looking agenda for the partyโs future.
Founded on 27 April 1951 in Bo following consultations in Kambia and Freetown, the SLPP emerged from the coming together of three political movements: the Protectorate Educational Progressive Union, the Sierra Leone Organisation Society, and the Peopleโs Party of Freetown. President Bio described that moment as one in which โa national idea took shapeโ, stressing that what emerged was โbigger than a political partyโ and represented โa national compactโ.
In his keynote address, President Bio paid tribute to the partyโs founding fathers, mothers, paramount chiefs and grassroots mobilisers whose sacrifices laid the foundation for self-governance, independence and national unity. He particularly praised the women who sustained the movement through their labour and commitment, saying many led without titles and organised without platforms.
โSeventy-five years ago, in the closing years of colonial rule, a group of Sierra Leoneans gathered around a simple but radical idea: that the people of this land, from every region, every chiefdom, every community, belonged to one another and had the right to govern themselves,โ the President stated.
President Bio noted that the SLPP has endured because it was built on values deeper than political convenience. He recalled the difficult years when the party was formally banned under the one-party APC state in 1978, and when many supporters were persecuted or denied their political rights. Despite those trials, he said, the party remained alive in the hearts and homes of loyal supporters across the country.
โOur party has endured because it was built on something deeper than convenience,โ he declared, adding that the true strength of any political movement is measured not only when it holds power, but by what remains when power is taken away.
The President also paid glowing tribute to the late President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, crediting him and his generation for restoring the party to national leadership when multi-party democracy returned in 1996. He said that generation preserved the flame of the party and passed it on to those who followed.
Reflecting on his own stewardship since assuming leadership responsibilities in 2011, President Bio said his mission had been to rebuild the party, restore discipline, broaden its national appeal and keep it anchored in its founding values. He emphasised that leadership requires firmness, sacrifice and long-term commitment.
โI have given this party my best years. I would give them again. But I say this clearly: the Sierra Leone Peopleโs Party is greater than any one leader, including me,โ he affirmed.
President Bio urged party members to uphold loyalty, patience and discipline, stressing that no party reaches seventy-five years without disappointments, grievances or hard decisions. He warned against weakening institutions simply because personal ambitions are delayed.
Turning to the 2028 election, the President said the party must begin preparing now and must approach leadership selection with maturity and strategic clarity. He cautioned against entitlement, factionalism and divisive conduct, insisting that the next flagbearer