Monrovia – Relevant authorities of the Governments of La Cote D’Ivoire and Guinea have snubbed the just ended High Level Meeting of the Mano River Union (MRU) held in Monrovia due to a breach of diplomatic protocols and principles by the Government of Liberia (GOL), through Foreign Affairs Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti.
By Obediah Johnson, [email protected]
The MRU, comprising Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Côte d’Ivoire, aims to promote economic integration, peace, and development within the region.
On Sunday, July 21, a high-level MRU meeting began at the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ministerial Complex in Congo Town, bringing together Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Defense, and other key stakeholders to forge a unified approach to regional challenges.
It was held under the theme: “Strengthening the MRU for a More Coordinated Regional Response to Emerging Security and Development Challenges.”
But FrontPage Africa has reliably gathered from high-placed sources at the Executive Mansion and the Liberian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance, and Defense of Guinea and Ivory Coast did not attend the meeting.
Our sources disclosed that the relevant authorities of the two countries did not show up on grounds that the meeting was unilaterally called by Liberia, instead of Guinea, who is the current Chair of the MRU.
Former Guinean President Alpha Conde, who was the Chair of the MRU, was ousted by the military on September 5, 2021.
Since his ousting, leaders of the regional body have not decided on the leadership of the MRU.
Our impeccable sources confirmed that Liberia ignored the “protocols, principles and rule of engagement” of the MRU by single-handedly calling a High Level MRU meeting without any consultation with the other MRU countries.
“The absence of relevant authorities of the governments of Guinea and La Cote D’Ivoire from the MRU meeting in Liberia brought a serious embarrassment to our country. President Joseph Nyuma Boakai was ill-advised by the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Liberia to have called the MRU meeting.”
The source from the Liberian Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued: “Guinea was chairing the MRU up to the time its former President Alpha Conde was ousted. By that, Guinea remains the chair of the MRU until the Heads of States and governments can make a determination at a Summit.”
Our sources from the Executive Mansion and the Liberian Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that the relevant authorities of Guinea and Ivory Coast did not attend the just ended meeting due to the “diplomatic blunder and violation of the principles and protocols of the MRU” by the Liberian government, through the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“Guinea snubbed the meeting and said it (Guinea) should have been the one to call and chair the meeting-given that Guinea, through its deposed and former President, was chairing the MRU up to the time he was overthrown,” a source from the Executive Mansion confided.
Sierra Leone attended
Our sources pointed out that Sierra Leone attended the just ended MRU high Level meeting for Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Defense, and stakeholders in Monrovia. Sierra Leonean Foreign Affairs Minister Timothy Kabba led his country’s delegation to the meeting.
The meeting, which should have been multilateral, was reduced to a bilateral one between Liberia and Sierra Leone due to the absence of the relevant authorities of Guinea and Ivory Coast.
However, it was observed that though key authorities of the Governments of Guinea and Ivory Coast did not attend the meeting, few of their staff at their Embassies in Monrovia were in attendance.
Nyanti’s ally attends
Ambassador Simeon N. B. Moriba, the Secretary General of the MRU, was also in attendance.
However, our sources from the Liberian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Executive Mansion attributed his attendance at the recently held MRU meeting to his close tie with the Liberian Foreign Affairs Minister Sara Beysolow Nyanti.
Minister Nyanti unsuccessfully contested for the Liberian presidency on the ticket of the newly established African Liberation League (ALL) during the October 2023 general and presidential elections in Liberia.
Ambassador Moriba was her running mate. When contacted via telephone on Tuesday, July 30, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister for International Cooperation Ibrahim Nyei admitted that the Ministers of Defense, Finance and Foreign Affairs of Guinea and Ivory Coast did not attend the just ended MRU meeting in Liberia.
However, he disclosed that the Deputy Ministers of the two countries responsible for African Integration and Cooperation attended the meeting, along with their Ambassadors accredited to Liberia and other Embassy staff.
“The Ministers (proper) who could not attend due to other commitments sent in representatives with authority to negotiate and discuss on their behalf.”
Sierra Leone requested the meeting
Minister Nyei disclosed that the meeting was not called by Liberia.
According to him, the MRU meeting was requested by the Republic of Sierra Leone, through its Vice President in March this year to address the boundary dispute subsisting between it (Sierra Leone) and Guinea.
“When President Boakai met the Ivorian President, part of their discussion was to reactivate the MRU Heads of States summit. So, the Ivorian President asked that Liberia organize a special meeting of Foreign Affairs since Sierra Leone has requested it, and Sierra Leone and Guinea have this border tension.”
Minister Nyei maintained that Liberia only hosted the just ended MRU meeting.
He said the meeting was a “special meeting for Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defense and Finance of the MRU Countries” convened in Monrovia, and was different from the regular statutory and ministerial meetings of the MRU.
Snubbing blamed on illness.
“Liberia ended up becoming the host and as the host, we had to coordinate these issues. All of the Ministers initially committed to attending the meeting including the Ivorian Minister of Foreign Affairs. But unfortunately, he felt sick and he did not come. In fact, he even requested the postponement of the meeting. The meeting should have been held July 11-12, but the Ivorian Minister was in hospital and he proposed that we do it on the 21st and 22nd of July. Unfortunately, he didn’t get well at that time and so, he had to send his Deputy.”
Minister Nyei maintained that though the relevant Ministers of the governments of Guinea and Ivory Coast were not in attendance, separate listings of delegates to attend the meeting were sent by these countries, including Sierra Leone to the Liberian government.
“Their Defense Minister was represented by the Brigadier General who is responsible for internal security and their Ministry of Finance was represented by the Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Finance of Sierra Leone. For us as a host, our responsibility was to accord all delegations the due courtesy and treat them as formal representatives of their government. It was not a bilateral meeting; the four countries were represented”
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