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Vice President Jalloh Leads Sierra Leone Delegation to ECOWAS Virtual Extra Ordinary Summit

Vice President Jalloh Leads Sierra Leone Delegation to ECOWAS Virtual Extra Ordinary Summit

Press Release

The Hon. Vice President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh on Friday 28th August, 2020 led Sierra Leone delegation which comprise of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mrs Nabeela Farida Tunis, Minister of Defence, Brigadier (Rtd.) Kellie Conteh and an expert from the Directorate of Africa in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr. Yousuf Benga-Sama to ECOWAS virtual Extra Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government.

The conference which was summoned, was headed by the Former President of the Republic of Nigeria, HE Goodluck Jonathan to look into the report of the ECOWAS Mediation on the Socio-political in the Republic of Mali.

In his contribution, the Hon. Vice President of Sierra Leone apologised on behalf of His Excellency Brigadier (Rtd.) Dr. Julius Maada Bio who was unavoidably absent due to some other state functions.

The Hon. Vice President made succinct presentation in resolving the Mali crisis based on his UN experiences in peace and resolution and on behalf of the Government of Sierra Leone supported the resolutions taken by the ECOWAS Commission and the International Committee in resolving the Mali crisis peacefully.

He however, cautioned the decision of the ECOWAS with regards the transitional period in order to arrive at a concession with all stakeholders in Mali.

He furthered reaffirmed Sierra Leone’s solidarity with the people of Mali during this trying times and congratulated the President of Nigel who doubles as Chairman of Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, His Excellency Mohamadu Issoufou for his exemplary leadership in proffering a solution to the Mali crisis.

The Summit was climaxed with key decisions which among them was the resignation of His Excellency Ibrahim Boubacar Keita as President of the Republic of Mali in order to minimize the crisis in Mali, the formation of a transitional government to be headed by a civilian President and civilian Prime Minister and that they should not contest for further elections, the Military should not be at the helm of affairs nor lead the transition government.

The Summit also took note of the prevailing circumstances in Mali and promised to review certain restrictions; ECOWAS and the International Committee should agree on decisions taken by the Authority; the setting up of a committee which should comprise of ECOWAS, AU, UN and other International Organizations to monitor the situation in Mali.

The Summit was pleased with the information of the release of both Mali Prime Minister and Speaker of Parliament by the Junta.

The Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government, His Excellency Mohamadou Issoufou expressed his thanks and appreciations to his colleagues Heads of State for their meaningful contributions in proffering solutions to resolve the Mali crisis and for attending the summit.

The Summit was adjourned to September 7th 2020 in Niamey, Republic of Nigel to further explore necessary avenues to resolve the Mali crisis.

 

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SIGNED 

Alimatu Fofanah

Head of Section Media and Public Relations Department

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

OAU Drive, Tower Hill, Freetown, Sierra Leone

Website: www.mofaic.gov.sl

Email: media@mofaic.gov.sl

Contact: +232 78 861 822/77 713 939