The joint delegation of ECOWAS-AU-UNOWAS With President Maada Bio ( Photo: Office of the President Sierra Leone)
By Buba Gagigo
The National Unity Agreement, signed between the Sierra Leone Government and the All People’s Congress (APC) on October 18, 2023, was the focus of a recent visit by a joint delegation from ECOWAS-AU-UNOWAS. The delegation was co-led by Fatoumatta Jallow Tambajang, the former Vice President of The Gambia.
A joint press release from ECOWAS-AU-UNOWAS stated “The President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E. Omar Alieu Touray, in consultations with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki, and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), H.E. Leonardo Santos Simão, has deployed a Joint ECOWAS-AU-UNOWAS Assessment Mission to the Republic of Sierra Leone, as a follow-up to the Agreement for National Unity signed between the Government of Sierra Leone and the All Peoples Congress (APC) party on 18 October 2023,”
The release further mentioned that the mission is jointly led by Leonardo Santos Simão, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNOWAS, and Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang, the former Vice President of The Gambia.
“The Mission will meet with senior Government officials and the leadership of the All Peoples Congress (APC) Party, other political parties, as well as all relevant actors and stakeholders in the country, including the hierarchy of the Security Agencies and the Tripartite Committee in the course of the assessment of progress made in the implementation of the Agreement for National Unity. The Mission will also pay a courtesy call on the President of the Republic, H.E. Maada Bio. As Moral Guarantors of the Agreement, the Joint ECOWAS-AU-UNOWAS Mission would wish to urge all political actors and the citizens to remain calm and to prioritize the peace, unity, and stability of the country above every other partisan interest,” the statement concluded.