Freetown (AFP)
British actor, director and DJ Idris Elba, revealed in 2002 in the criminal TV series "The Wire", will receive Sierra Leonean citizenship and spend Christmas with the president of this small West African country, have indicated sources within local government.
Born in London, the only son of a car factory worker from Sierra Leone and a mother from Ghana, the actor arrived Wednesday evening in the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown, we learned government source Thursday. It is his first visit to his father's country, according to this source.
Ennobled by Queen Elizabeth II in 2015, Idris Elba acted in Hollywood super-productions like "Thor" and "Avengers", and embodied the anti-apartheid icon, Nelson Mandela, in "Mandela: A long way towards freedom ".
During his stay, the one who was named in 2018 "sexiest living man" by People magazine must spend Christmas with President Julius Maada Bio.
He is also expected to receive a Sierra Leonean passport, according to a government source.
He is expected to visit Sherbro Island and its idyllic beaches, where he plans to build an eco-responsible tourist complex, Sierra Leonean Deputy Minister of Tourism William Robinson told AFP.
Nearly 20 years after a civil war that killed some 120,000 people, Sierra Leone is betting on eco-tourism to become a destination of choice again. At the start of the year, it made the chimpanzee its new national emblem.
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