Harbel, Margibi County – The President of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency Mr. Marcel Alain de Souza paid a well-deserved tribute to the outgoing Chairperson of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, for her commitment to regional integration, peace and decisive leadership during her tenure as the sub-regional organization’s first female Chairperson of the Authority.

“You have represented West Africa in the worthiest manner and demonstrated remarkable strength and courage in the fulfilment of your responsibilities,” he said, adding further, “You have guided the region and your influence reaches beyond our Community, through the social, political and economic challenges we face, including the end of the Ebola epidemic which was recognized as a global threat.”

In his Statement to the 51st Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government at the Farmington Hotel in lower Margibi County, Mr. de Souza praised President Sirleaf for the brilliant leadership in the management of issues concerning The Gambia and Guinea Bissau as well as all matters of peace and security in the sub-region.

“During your term in office, you achieved significant progress for your country and the region, allowing Member States to exist together in harmonious cohesion, to address the challenges of national and regional governance,” the Commission President emphasized.

With presidential and legislative elections slated for October 2017, Mr. de Souza commended the initiatives by various Liberian presidential candidates to sign the Farmington Declaration to ensure the smooth conduct of the polls, maintain peace, security and social cohesion during the post-electoral period.

“I therefore call on all candidates to maintain peace and comply with the relevant provisions of the Pact,” he said, promising that ECOWAS will stand by the Government and people of Liberia to offer all necessary assistance.

Providing an update on the political front, the Commission’s Chairman informed the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government that the sub-region continues to enjoy strong credibility and a good image, due to the timely settlement of the Gambian crisis.

He commended the ECOWAS Authority for its cohesiveness, determination, personal commitment, sense of unity and solidarity, in speaking with one voice when faced with democratic challenges.

Mr. de Souza said though The Gambia was a success and political stability is one of the region’s major assets, it cannot be true of the situation in Guinea Bissau, Mali, northern Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso and the recent events on Côte d’Ivoire which requires attention and increased vigilance.

He appealed to all stakeholders in Guinea Bissau, to consider the best interest of their country, rise above partisanship and advocate continuous dialogue and concerted action, with the view to implementing the Conakry Agreement.

About security, the Commission’s President expressed his concern about terrorist attacks by jihadists in northern Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. He also highlighted the challenges in Niger and Nigeria where attacks by Boko Haram continues despite the remarkable work by the Joint Forces from Lake Chad countries.

“ECOWAS, therefore, strongly condemns these attacks,” Mr. de Souza said; but welcome the efforts of Nigeria, which led to the recent release of 83 school girls abducted three years ago.

For his part, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for West Africa and Sahel (UNOWAS), Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, praised efforts of the sub-regional organization to modernize institutions of democratic governance aimed at reflecting the aspirations of their people.

Dr. Chambas said there is the need for ECOWAS leaders to promote improved transparent governance, inclusive development, infrastructure, while catering to the basic needs of the ordinary people including health and education.

“While dedicated efforts at combating the spread of exclusionary and extremist ideologies are necessary, it is equally important for states to promote improved transparent governance, inclusive development, provide infrastructures, cater for basic social needs such as health and education as well as to work to combat and prevent injustice and impunity.

This is required to ensure peaceful societies,” Dr. Chambas stressed, adding that it is his view of addressing the root causes of instability.

Towards this goal, he urged the efforts of countries across the region to modernize the institutions of governance, reflect the aspirations of the people as well as strengthen the foundations for democratic cohesive and resilient societies.

Speaking about the recent situation in Cote d’Ivoire, Dr. Chambas proposed that political leadership, national reconciliation and the fight against impunity and security sector reform must go hand in hand. “We all agree that bringing the security sector under full democratic control must be a priority. With ECOWAS, the African Union, and the European Union, we have recently concluded a tripartite mission to the Gambia and stand ready to provide assistance to the full operationalization of the ECOWAS Framework on Security Sector Reform and Governance,” he reported.

For her part, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission, Ms. Federica Mogherini, addressing the 51st Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority for the first time, said that ECOWAS is a force of hope for Africa and the world. However, she said we live in a complicated moment, when security, fundamental freedom and human rights are under attack in many parts of the globe.

“It is not only the suffering that unites us, but also the common determination to fight terrorism and prevent radicalism. We are united in a global challenge that requires strong institutions and open societies,” she said.

Touching on democracy across the sub-region, Ms. Mogherini said free elections have become a common feature while peaceful transition of power is not an exception anymore; while democracy has taken root among the people of West Africa.

She touched on events in the Gambia which have given all hope, stressing that democracy can win and can win with peaceful means; but warned that we need to support this success story if we want it to consolidate.

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy emphasized that multilateralism and regional integration can be a credibly powerful driver of peace and development. “Your example here in West Africa demonstrates what we have experienced in Europe is also valid in other parts of the world,” she said.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the 51st Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority, the leaders of Cote d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Senegal signed the Dakar – Abidjan Highway Treaty, followed by the groundbreaking ceremony of the Regional Electricity Energy Project by Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Later, the Standard Bearers of Liberian political parties contesting the upcoming presidential and legislative elections signed the Farmington Declaration committing to the process of free, fair and peaceful elections in October this year.

Harbel, Margibi County – Togolese President, His Excellency Mr. Faure Gnassingbe has been elected the new Chairperson of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State of Government.

According to a Foreign Ministry release, President Gnassingbe’s election was announced at the end of the 51st Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government held at the Farmington Hotel, Robertsfield, lower Margibi County on Sunday, June 4, 2017. He took over from President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first female, to serve as Chair of the ECOWAS Authority for a year.

Accepting the preferment, the Togolese President thanked his colleagues for the confidence reposed in him to lead the organization over the next 12 months. “Your choice of Togo, in my humble person, I hereby accept. I humbly accept not only with honor and pride, but also and especially with a sense of responsibility and determination,” President Gnassingbe assured.

He seized the opportunity to express to his colleagues, on behalf of the Government and people of Togo, his gratitude and recognition for the unflinching support always shown them. He reflected on the confidence and trust the ECOWAS Authority assigned to Togo in spearheading the fight the Ebola Virus Disease in the sub-region a few years ago when he served as supervisor of the ECOWAS initiative in the fight against the pandemic. “Now it’s also expressed in your trust in me as current Chairperson of the ECOWAS Authority,” he said.

President Gnassingbe expressed warm congratulations to his predecessor, President Sirleaf, who during her tenure, showed ECOWAS’ will to preserve peace and accelerate the development and integration process in the sub-region.

He emphasized that the sub-regional organization, ECOWAS, is in full evolution and its achievements recognized by the whole world which are a thing of pride and satisfaction. “We are pleased. We commend ourselves but we are by no means satisfied; rather our success encourages us not to rest on our laurels but to continue to further our efforts for more achievements,” he said.

The Togolese President stressed that the challenges before them are many and varied and requires that we fully expand ourselves by learning from our potential and forge ahead in our objectives of an ECOWAS of people.

He urged Member States to lift all barriers to disturbance to our people, encourage regional mobility within our economic space, enhance trade, demographic potential, industrialization, so many of these challenges we must fight together for the empowerment of our people.

Opening the 51st Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority and providing her reflections on the progress of the ECOWAS Community during her leadership, President Sirleaf expressed profound gratitude for the confidence bestowed in her and the opportunity to serve the Community.

“This was in recognition of the progress made by Liberia, my country, which was considered a pariah state just 15 years ago,” she said, adding that it took the sacrifices and the solidarity of members of the Community to bring us to this day, when Liberia can again lead the sub-regional organization and can receive them, in a peaceful and trending Liberia.”

The outgoing Chairperson of the ECOWAS Authority provided an update of her prioritized four-point agenda when she assumed the Chairmanship of the Authority a year ago which included: Consolidation of Democracy, Strengthening Peace and Security Architecture, Improving Financial Stability and Promoting Institutional Reform with the Review and Restructuring of the Community Institutions, as well as Promoting Regional Integration through Agriculture and Infrastructure Development.

President Sirleaf stressed that the road to regional integration is likely to be long and require consistency; noting that economies of several of countries though progressed in the past years are now plagued by the sharp decline in commodity prices on the world market.

“If there is a lesson to be learned from this situation which affects all our exports, from oil to iron ore and to cocoa, it is that we must diversify our economies and invest in small transformative industries,” she advised; adding that with a population of more than 300 million people, there is a potential to establish an internal market place that will create jobs and sustain the sub-region’s progress.

President Sirleaf informed her colleagues that agriculture and infrastructure will enable the sub-region achieve transformation in the implementation of Vision 2020. “The success of several of our countries in value addition in agriculture can be expanded and our trade integration enhanced through acceleration of the several ongoing regional projects in roads energy and railroads,” she emphasized; adding that agricultural programs should consider innovative ways of integrating young people to minimize youth unemployment.

She also advocated a strong case for air services connectivity to provide cost effective movement of citizens, increased trade, and tourism, as called for by the Yamoussoukro Declaration and Decision.

The Summit was attended by 12 Heads of State and Government including the Presidents of Capo Verde, H.E. Jorge Carlos Fonseca; Senegal, H.E. Macky Sall; Sierra Leone, H.E. Ernest Bai Koroma; Côte d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara; Ghana, H. E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Togo, H. E. Faure Gnassingbe.

Others are the Presidents of Mali, H. E. Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta; Gambia, H.E. Adama Barrow; Burkina Faso, H. E. Roch Marc Christian Kaboré; Guinea Bissau, H.E. José Mário Vaz; Guinea, Alpha Condé; and host Liberia, H.E. Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

Other personalities that attended the Meeting included the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for West Africa and Sahel (UNOWAS), Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas; the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission, Ms. Federica Mogherini and the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, who is and official guest of the ECOWAS Commission. Former Nigerian President, Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo was a special guest at the Meeting.

Harbel, Margibi County: President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has opened the 51^st Session of the Summit of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government and outlined achievements during her tenure as Chairperson of the Authority of Heads of State.

According to an Executive mansion release, the Liberian leader was speaking in Harbel, Margibi County at the Farmington Hotel when she opened the 51^st Session of the ECOWAS Summit of Heads of State and Government. 

It can be recalled exactly one year ago, on June 4, 2016, in Dakar, Senegal, on the occasion of the 49^th Ordinary Summit of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, the Authority entrusted with the leadership of the ECOWAS Community. She praised her predecessor – Senegalese President, Macky Sall, who had worked tirelessly on Community matters. 

She acknowledged the progress made by Liberia, which was considered a pariah state just fifteen years ago. President Sirleaf said it took the sacrifices and the solidarity of members of this community to bring us to this day, when we can lead the sub-regional organization and be able to receive you all, in a peaceful and trending Liberia. 

She also paid homage for the great work accomplished by those who held the mantle before her and ensured that our community work in the interest of our people, putting our unity and solidarity above all other consideration. 

Recounting her assumption of the chairmanship of ECOWAS Authority, President Sirleaf immediately prioritized a four-point agenda with the main thrust on Consolidation of Democracy, Strengthening our Peace and Security Architecture; Improving Financial Stability and Promoting Institutional Reform, including the Review and Restructuring of the Community Institutions; Promoting Regional Integration through Agriculture; and Infrastructure Development. 

She said in the area of democracy – sub-region recorded impressive gains leading to the peaceful transition through elections achieved in Cabo Verde and Ghana.  President Sirleaf, on behalf of ECOWAS applauded Ghana for being the leader in this regard on the Continent. 

She paid tribute to the leadership of our ECOWAS Mediator, President Buhari of Nigeria, which saw a 22-year political domination in The Gambia come to an end in a peaceful transition. 

This, she noted was accomplished through several diplomatic and mediatory missions by the Mediation Team – Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia.  She further recognized the pivotal roles played by Senegal, Guinea and Mauritania. 

She indicated that this success came as a result of  full solidarity and firm resolve by all of you to implement the decision taken at the 50^th Summit, which received world acclaim and established ECOWAS as a model of decisive leadership in defense of regional democracy in Africa. 

She said diplomatic and mediatory missions were taken to Guinea Bissau under the leadership of President Condé of Guinea as Mediator that brought together a historic gathering of representatives of all the political parties of Guinea Bissau in Conakry in October 2016. 

“Their discussions culminated in the Conakry Agreement, which outlined the roadmap to a resolution of the long standing political impasse in that country, she observed.  

President Sirleaf said these achievements would not have been possible without the support and collaboration of the African Union, United Nations, European Union, as well as other friendly bilateral partners outside our region. 

On efforts to consolidate peace and security in our region continue, she said: “With the realization that in the absence of peace, there can be no development. Terrorism has brought instability, death and destruction to many member states of our Community.  

What started a few years ago as a dispute about autonomy in northern Mali is now spreading. Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria have all been victims of terrorist attacks.

In this regard, we acknowledge the gallant efforts of the Nigerian Government in degrading the capability of Boko Haram and support the spirited efforts of the Government of Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire, together with other countries of the Lake Chad Region.”

She stressed – “We can stem terrorism only if we strengthen intelligence capacity, improve information sharing and enhance coordination with the African Union and other regional organizations on the continent.” 

President Sirleaf informed the summit that good progress has been made in the restructuring of the Community institutions. 

She said in early December 2016, she undertook a working visit to ECOWAS Institutions in Abuja and met with the President and Judges of the Community Court of Justice, and the Speaker and Bureau of the ECOWAS Parliament at their respective headquarters.

She said the visit provided her an opportunity to better understand the internal workings and the pace of the implementation of reforms, including fast tracking of the work of the Maxwell Stamp Consultants in restructuring Community institutions. 

She then thanked the leaders of the various institutions for the opportunity granted her during the visit with them. 

She commended the Authority of Heads of State and Government for supporting reforms in all the Community institutions aimed at reducing operational and administrative costs, inefficiency and mismanagement of resources.

The outgoing Chairperson emphasized that the reallocation of resources from administration to programs will improve services to our people.

She however used the occasion to commend, particularly, the exceptional support and commitment made to this effort by the President of the Commission, Mr. Marcel de Souza. 

She noted that existing protocols and mechanisms – call for financing our Community through contribution of the Community levy by Member States, which is the principal means of meeting the operational costs of our institutions and responding to security emergencies such as those faced by our peacekeeping troops in Mali and Guinea Bissau.

She joined her colleagues in commending His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari for the relief brought by his recent expressed commitment to continue Nigeria’s support to the community levy.  

Touching on regional integration, she said the road to regional integration is likely to be long and require consistency especially where economies of several of our countries have progressed tremendously in the past years but are now plagued by the sharp decline in commodity prices on the world market. 

She noted that regional integration plans continue on course as a result of the Community’s collective resolve to implement the Protocols on Free Movement of People and Goods, particularly the Common Internal Tariff (CET), the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS) and the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). 

“Our community has achieved considerable progress in the last four decades, including harmonization of macroeconomic policies, trade integration, regional infrastructure, all resting on the pillars of peace and security, democracy and rule of law.

We applaud the free movement of people throughout our sub-region as the greatest achievement of all, because it provides to our people the freedom of cross border movement, without having to stand in line for visas, she emphasized.” 

President Sirleaf said: “To reach our objective of total integration, we owe it to our people to make cross border trade and travel as easy as possible for our people by eliminating harassment and imposition of personal fees by those many border posts.

We must recognize that most of our people who travel across borders for trade, seasonal work or family visits do so by road.

Small business and migrant workers constitute the backbone of our economic development and integration.  Commerce will greatly be enhanced if we have a seamless cross border movement.” 

Looking forward; she said we have determined that agriculture and infrastructure will enable us to achieve transformation in the implementation of our Vision 2020.

The success of several of our countries in value addition in agriculture can be expanded and our trade integration enhanced through acceleration of the several ongoing regional projects in roads, energy, and railroads.

“Agricultural programs should consider innovative ways of integrating young people to minimize youth unemployment; a strong case also exists for air services connectivity to provide cost effective movement of citizens, increased trade, and tourism, as called for by the Yamoussoukro Declaration and Decision, she stressed.” 

On Infrastructure in the Region, she underscored the development of road networks and energy generation and distribution.  She then commended the Heads of State of Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire and the Ministers for Public Works, Road Infrastructure and Justice for launching the critical Lagos-Abidjan Corridor. 

“Today, we will be breaking ground, leading to finalization of the treaty on the second phase, the Dakar-Abidjan Corridor (DAC). We look forward to signing the DAT phase to meet the challenges to all of us including our development partners for rapid implementation of these important projects, she announced.” 

The summit was attended by 12 Heads of State from Cape Verde, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Cote D’Ivoire, Guinea, Ghana, Togo, Mali, The Gambia, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissua and Liberia.

The summit also saw the participation of Israeli Prime Minister – Netanyahu, the EU Vice President, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General on West Africa/Sahel – Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas, among others. 

She also welcomed the Vice President of the European Union, who is also attending a meeting of the Authority for the first time as well as the UN Secretary General Special Representative for West Africa/Sahel.

She acknowledged the presence of Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel for the visit to the summit. 

According to an Executive Mansion release, the Liberian leaders make the welcome remarks at opening ceremony of the 51^st Session of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government.

He said although the African Union and the United Nations are always represented at meetings of the Authority, she said he must nevertheless give them special recognition because of the complementarity, which exists between our organizations. 

She said the people of Liberia are honored by their presence and noted that since the convening of the 16^th Summit of the Organization of African Unity in 1979, Liberia has not hosted a Summit of this magnitude. She said this meeting marked a turning point in the post conflict recovery and reconstruction. 

President Sirleaf said “This meeting hold a special meaning for us for another reason; We can recall today the pivotal role of ECOWAS in the restoration of peace following the protracted civil crisis in Liberia.”

She said many ECOWAS citizens made the ultimate sacrifice with their lives for the uninterrupted peace, which Liberians continue to enjoy. 

She said: “Today, our organization continues its mission of promoting peace even as it faces challenges linked to the spread of terrorism. Terrorist attacks are engendering instability in a number of our member states, and we know that terrorism constitutes a growing threat for all of us.

The most recent manifestation of this menace was the attack perpetrated against the people of Niger resulting in the loss of lives. We must work in concert across borders and oceans to end this threat.” 

President Sirleaf enjoined the Heads of State and Heads of Delegations to rise and join her for a moment of silence to the memory of all of the innocent souls and gallant citizens of ECOWAS whose lives have been shortening brutally by conflict and terrorism.

She called for a moment of (SILENCE) and prayed that their souls rest in perfect peace. 

She then welcomed all of Heads of State and Heads of Delegations again and wished them a perfect stay in Liberia – however short their stay.

Monrovia – The Chair of ECOWAS Council of Ministers, Marjon V. Kamara, has told her colleagues that their vote of confidence has inspired and encouraged she and others in the Liberian Government to work unflinchingly to sustain the peace which the people of this country have enjoyed for 13 consecutive years. 

According to a Foreign Ministry release, Madam Kamara, who’s also Liberia’s Foreign Minister, informed the foreign guests how highly honored Liberians are to host the 2017 mid-year statutory meetings of the sub-regional body taking place at the Farmington Hotel in lower Margibi County.

In her welcome remarks at the 78th Ordinary Meeting of ECOWAS Council of Ministers, she also apologized for whatever inconveniences her colleagues and visiting guests may have experienced since their arrival considering the venue of the meetings as a newly constructed hotel just opening for business.

“This meeting is being held in facilities which are obviously very new and still to be fully completed,” she said, adding, “Let me therefore renew my apologies for the inconveniences you may suffer. Please be assured that every effort is being made to improve services and increase the level of comfort,” she appealed.

Foreign Minister Kamara said that hosting the ECOWAS meeting is an honor but it comes with challenges because Liberia has not hosted meetings of this magnitude for 38 years, since the Summit of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1979.

On the positive side, Foreign Minister Kamara believed that the environment of serenity which the Farmington Hotel offers far away from the noise, the traffic jam and congestion of inner city Monrovia, is propitious for the concentration and focus that is needed to bring to the deliberations over the next two days.

She reminded the Council of Ministers that fruitful outcomes will require concerted effort and energy of every one of them, adding, “Our Organization demands no less of us. We must rise to the task and achieve our mission.”

In his opening remarks, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency Mr. Marcel Alain de Souza, paid homage to the Chair of the ECOWAS Authority, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who he has done all to make the ECOWAS Meetings a success. “It’s been amazing what great work President Sirleaf and her government have done,” he stated.

He made the audience to give a round of applause to the Chair of the Council of Ministers for the splendid work she has done since assuming the post. She turns over the position at the end of the 51st Summit on Sunday, June 4, 2017.

The Commission President joined Foreign Minister Kamara to apologize for any inadequacies that any of the visiting guests might have experienced.

Providing updates on happenings in the sub-region, he maintained that the main aims for which the forefathers in the sub-region established ECOWAS, are being achieved, including free movement of goods and trade.

He, however, informed his audience that the region still faces lots of challenges. He also called on all ECOWAS member states to work towards a single currency but not with a rush.

Monrovia – In the years immediately following the 1989 outbreak of the civil war in Liberia, not many Presidents in the West African region, leaders of ECOWAS, dared to visit the country.

Liberians have historically been West African ‘citizens’ before the formation of ECOWAS and the fact that ECOWAS came to offer protection to them in the hour of need in the unfortunate civil war makes them a people with abiding faith in West African integration moving towards the creation of an ECOWAS of people write veteran journalists Ben Asante and Lindsay Barrett

The only exception was Jerry Rawlings, Ghana’s former President who piloted himself into the Spriggs Payne airport in the heart of the capital Monrovia unannounced at a time when the country was still divided and the war raged unabated.

It was also a time when he was serving as ECOWAS chairman and his government was hosting negotiations among the warring factions in Accra.

These negotiations were going nowhere when, unknown to the warlords and warring factions’ leaders, Rawlings landed in the war-ravaged capital to find out things for himself.

 At the time that he took this trip it was being suggested that unless the warlords agreed on ending the war and forming a peace-making government they should not be allowed to come back into the country.

President Rawlings, dressed in his air force fatigues, drove from the outskirts of the city, through parts of the downtown area, such as Crown Hill and Broad Street to the headquarters of ECOMOG at Bushrod Island.

There he held a closed door meeting with the high command led by the deputy Field Commander in the absence of the Field Commander who had remained in Accra for the negotiations among the warring factions.

President Rawlings’ visit as the ECOWAS chairman at the time he went into the Liberian capital Monrovia was the closest any leader in the ECOWAS Authority came to personally witnessing the ravages of the civil war with major infrastructures and buildings in ruins as a result of the fighting.

Apart from Rawlings’ trip hardly any West African President visited Liberia while the war lasted, nor even in the years since relative peace has returned under President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s government.

This will change dramatically in June when Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf hosts the 51st Ordinary Summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the capital city Monrovia with most of its leaders expected to attend.

President Johnson Sirleaf has been the chairman of ECOWAS since her unanimous election June last year in Dakar, Senegal.

In the eleven years that she served as leader of Liberia, being ECOWAS chairman is one additional responsibility that she has most cherished taking on, because she regards it as an opportunity to express gratitude to the organisation and the people of the region for their sacrifices to help end the civil war and restore peace to her nation.

 Ordinary Liberians, and their leaders, will cheer the arriving ECOWAS leaders as they meet in Liberia, in appreciation for their having saved the country by sending troops to end the civil war.

The fact that it is possible for ECOWAS Heads of State and Government to meet in Liberia contributes to the proof that the country has recovered significantly from its years of violence and moved away from instability.

Today Liberia, a country that was once viewed as a failed state with its people entrapped in a senseless factional war after rebels invaded to overthrow the Doe government and ended up causing anarchy, has indeed recovered through the unprecedented military intervention by ECOWAS.

The sub-regional body took what was an unprecedented step at the time to dispatch troops to separate the warring factions, save lives and enforce conditions for restoring normalcy.

In the last two decades, Liberia might have been seen as ECOWAS problem child but this has not always been the case.

For a long period, Liberia was a torch-bearer for self-determination in West Africa, in particular and for the entire continent.

Like Ethiopia, Liberia occupies a special place in African history in that it was never colonized by any of the major colonizing European powers.

Liberia’s role in support of the self-determination of the black race has always been part of the consciousness of many West Africans when neighboring countries in the region struggled to free themselves from colonial rule.

Some notable nationalists including Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and Nnamdi Azikiwe passed through Liberia as they journeyed to the outside world in search of knowledge.

 Records show that West Africa is inhabited by a highly mobile population of some 300 million people with a penchant for informal trading and settling in new areas.

Significant trade and regular interaction within the region date back to well before efforts were made to bring the nations and their people together in recent times.

Liberia in particular, long proved to be a home away from home welcoming people from many of its neighbors. 

Nigerians, Ghanaians and many others, settled in Liberia and bonded with Liberian families through marriage.  Many of them served as high officials in various governments. 

Several ordinary people from neighboring countries worked in Liberian governments over the years while others felt welcome enough to come and offer their skills and invest in commercial activities.

These included owners of major industries, automobile agencies, transport companies and breweries. Liberia also served as a convenient stepping stone in the quest for visas to enter the US.

Around 1965 the late President William Tubman called for an economic union comprising of Ivory Coast, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and others.

Although the idea did not take off then, when Nigeria’s Gen. Yakubu Gowon and Togo’s Gnassingbe Eyadema promoted the establishment of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) the idea became a reality.

 When the treaty of May 1975 was signed by the original 16 nations of the region Liberia was a founding member and initially headed the ECOWAS Fund which was based in Lome , Togo. 

In recent years when ECOWAS converted to a Commission headed by a President and various Commissioners in-charge of major departments a Liberian Dr. Toga Gayewea MacIntosh served as the first Vice President of the Commission.

Not only was Liberia a founding member of ECOWAS but it fundamentally changed the entire nature of the organisation, through the misfortune of its civil war, when ECOWAS was forced to send in peacekeepers and undertake diplomatic negotiations for  a peaceful settlement.

Initially ECOWAS’ was mainly concerned with economic matters with the various finance and economy ministers handling integration and trade within the community.

With the civil war escalating and thousands of Liberian refugees seeking safety in neighboring countries foreign ministers from member states met to examine the problem. 

Dr. Abbas Bundu, the Executive Secretary at the time pushed for the establishment of a Council of foreign ministers with a parallel committee of ambassadors from member states accredited to Nigeria to serve as permanent representatives to ECOWAS able to relate much faster to the community headquarters in Lagos, which was later to be transferred to Abuja.

Long before the civil war in Liberia, ECOWAS had in fact adopted additional protocols on non-aggression among member states and security concerns in the build-up to the 1975 agreement establishing it.

However, the Authority’s concerns never envisaged armed invasions by non-state actors as demonstrated by the NPFL rebel challenge that destabilised Liberia.

Until ECOWAS went into Liberia, with peacekeeping troops in August 1990, no one single regional power has ever succeeded in intervening forcefully in an African civil war in a member country by putting boots on the ground without prior agreement between the warring groups.

ECOWAS succeeded in doing this in Liberia with a strong commitment to act as its brothers’ keepers in a situation where the rest of the world, especially the USA (considered as having a special relationship with Liberia) looked the other way.

The civil war in Somalia and Liberia started about the same time. The Somali crisis is still raging.

The difference between Somalia and Liberia was the presence and courage of ECOWAS and the ECOMOG intervention force but some analysts say that it was Nigeria that made the greatest difference because it was willing to use its resources to back the ECOMOG intervention with its air force and war ships as well as supporting the diplomatic negotiations along with other member states.

The Liberian civil war threatened the ECOWAS objectives because economic integration and free movement could only take place in a peaceful environment.

The fact that ECOWAS leaders were confronting a threat to the entire region was best illustrated by former Nigeria military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, when he said, “We could not simply go into the country and pick out our own citizens. What do we do about Liberians fearful for their lives and coming across as refugees?”

Babangida’s fears were soon justified when Liberian refugees in their thousands started arriving in ship-loads in Nigeria, with Ghana and many more going on foot into neighboring Sierra Leone, Cote dÍvoire, and Guinea.

The regional threat that the Liberian war posed was exacerbated when Charles Taylor’s NPFL rebel movement, which was the most intransigent in the many negotiations for peace, joined the RUF in Liberia’s neighbor Sierra Leone and thus initiated an even more brutal civil war in that country.

Before the crisis few countries in the region could rank with Liberia as a hospitable, friendly, and exciting place to visit and to live in.

The warmth of its friendly welcoming people in spite of their wide ethnic variety and the ease with which they existed in a cultural milieu of tolerance and politeness, made it difficult to explain the violence and bitterness that surfaced during the war.

That the civil war ended the way it did with neither victor nor vanished but rather with a democratic compromise could only be possible in a unique country like Liberia. 

Indeed, it will be hard to find a country to compare with Liberia in Africa in terms of its willingness to collaborate with its neighbours.

Before the war people accused the Liberian elite of seeking to identify with communities outside of Africa, especially the United States of America Today, especially since the Presidency of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, this perception has changed, and most people in the region identify with this unique country where the ease of doing business and interacting with the people is extraordinary.

Because the civil war drove the ordinary people in their thousands to find places of refuge in neighboring countries today no single group can claim to be more West African than Liberians.

Out of the painful experience of the civil war Liberians may be said to have become the primary citizens of ECOWAS.

To a great extent, the civil war contributed to many Liberians discovering more about West Africa and they were able to generally mix and form lifelong relationships with other nationals of ECOWAS member state.

Today there are Liberian communities in Ghana, in Buduburam, outside of the capital Accra and in the Central Region, and in Oru in Nigeria’s South-West where Liberians are settled in a community.

Many more individuals have settled, married and naturalized in Guinea, Ghana and Nigeria.

That Liberians and their government led by President Johnson Sirleaf would go to any length to show their gratitude to the region was demonstrated by its willingness to send troops to join the ECOWAS stand-by force which went into Mali during its ongoing crisis. Liberia in fact, is home to the ECOWAS Youth Volunteers Corp which was first launched there.

ECOWAS’ involvement in Liberia, including the security operations, has altogether cemented greater bonds with its neighbors for concrete growth in economic, social and interpersonal relations.

These facts and realities will be acutely on the mind of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as she hosts leaders of the region in whose hands lay the future of all citizens of West Africa even as the country goes into elections this October.

Monrovia   – The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Marcel Alain de Souza, has promised to ask the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and government and others to do a “standing ovation” for the Chair of ECOWAS Authority, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia and her government for the splendid job she has done for the sub-region and her country.

According to a Foreign Ministry release, Mr. de Souza made the assertion during his remarks at the opening of the 38th Ordinary Ministerial Meeting of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council taking place at the Farmington Hotel in lower Margibi County.

Speaking further, the ECOWAS Commission President providing updates on the sub-region, specifically on the democratic front, said Liberia is the only country that is set to go to Presidential and legislative elections in October this year.

He praised the Liberian Government for its handling the electoral process so far.

Formally opening of the meeting, the Chairperson of the Ministerial Council, Madam Marjon V. Kamara who is also Liberia’s Foreign Minister welcomed her colleagues and guests and told them how honoured the government and people of Liberia are by their presence.

“Our President, the Government and people of Liberia are greatly honoured by your presence, she said, adding, that the decision to convene these mid-year statutory meetings in Liberia is a very reassuring statement of confidence in the progress which Liberia has made in consolidating peace over the past 13 years that bears testimony to the strong and visionary leadership of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who, with support of partners has kept the Liberian nation on a peaceful course.

“ECOWAS, the United Nations and many friendly governments have been indispensable partners in this respect,” Foreign Minister Kamara emphasized.

She further stated that ECOWAS has continued to develop and sharpen the elements of its peace and security architecture since its first deployment to Liberia in August 1990; stressing, “Today our organization is held in high esteem for the decisive and determined posture of ECOWAS leaders and the strategic use of its military assets in the interest of peace, stability and security of ECOWAS citizens.”

Foreign Minister Kamara paid tribute to the President and staff of the ECOWAS Commission for the positive results of their hard work which continues to bring credit to the regional body.

She also extended her appreciation to the Chair of the Mediation and Security Council (MSC) at the Ambassadorial level and the ECOWAS Ambassadors for their informed contributions on enhancing coordination and policy coherence between the Commission and Member States on regional peace and security matters. 

Foreign Minister Kamara, among other things, expressed her expectation that the 38th MSC Meeting will further enhance their collective initiatives to strengthen the peace and security architecture of the sub-region.

Meanwhile, the two-day Meeting of the 78th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers takes place on Thursday, June 1st and Friday, June 2nd, at the Farmington Hotel in lower Margibi County.

The Chairperson of Council, Madam Marjon Kamara, who is also Liberia’s Foreign Minister, will welcome her colleagues from the sub-region to Liberia and will chair proceedings; while the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Marcel Alain de Souza, will make a statement setting the stage for the closed-door deliberations.

Agenda items include those for decisions, adoption and information as they prepare the 51st Ordinary Summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government scheduled for Sunday, June 4th, 2017. All Heads of State and Government are expected to be in attendance.

Other important dignitaries expected to attend the 51st Ordinary Summit of the ECOWAS Authority include the Israeli Prime Minister, His Excellency Mr. Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu; a high-level delegation from the Moroccan Government, European Union, United Nations, and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Mr. Moussa Faki, among others.

On the margins of the 51st Ordinary Summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, Mano River Union States (Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire) will launch the West Africa Power Pool Project which will provide electricity to the countries within the MRU basin.

Marigibi County – Liberia’s Minister of Foreign Affair Marjon Kamara has termed the two days meeting of the ECOWAS AD HOC Ministerial Committee on Institutional Reform as significant for the development of the country.

Report by J.H. Webster Clayeh – websterclayeh@frontpageafricaonline.com

“It has been several years since we were able to hold something of this magnitude.”

“The memorial of it is very vivid to me,” Minister Kamara said during the opening of the two-day ministerial meeting of ECOWAS’s Foreign Ministers held at the Famington Hotel in Margibi County Monday.

She added: “It was 1979 when we hosted the African Union Summit and as some of you may recall; maybe others were too young, but we were still holding the Chairmanship of the African Union when the coup d’état happened in Liberia and that was the marking of point for some of us to flee the country. So that should tell you the significance for us; of your present here.”

The Ad Hoc Ministerial Committee on Institutional Reform meeting is part of series of important ECOWAS meetings, ahead of the 51^st Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Community, on 4 June 2017, in the Liberian capital.

These meetings include the Ad Hoc Ministerial Committee on Institutional Reform on 29 and 30 May 2017, followed by the Mediation and Security Council on 31 May 2017, and the 78^th Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers, on the 1^st and 2^nd of June 2017.

Minister Kamara added that the work of the committee has an important consequence for the future of their organization and their community. She said since2006 the organization has been engaged in what she called a “protective reform process”.

“It comes with the transformation of the executive secretarial into the ECOWAS Commission. In 2013, we received new reporter from the Maxwell Stamp consultant. The ECOWAS Authority has kept this effort alive,” she said.

According to Minister Kamara the act of institutional reform has become imperative across Africa, which she said is spearheaded by African Union (AU) body.

“We must resolve to bring this process to a successful conclusion”, the Liberian Foreign Minister said.

Kamara added: “So, your deliberation over the two days should have this as an objective; to conclude the reconstruction of the commission and other ECOWAS institution in a manner where we improve operation deficiency, enhance fair rotation and increase allocation to the program which benefits the citizens of our country.”