Mano River Union Reactivated

A one-day summit of Heads of State of the Mano River Union was held on Thursday 20th May 2004 in the Guinean Capital, Conakry with the three leaders of the Mano River Union States, Presidents Lansana Conte of Guinea, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and Chairman Gyude Bryant of Liberia expressing their commitment to support all initiatives aimed at the promotion of confidence-building measures and security in the sub-region in order to strengthen cooperation amongst member countries and speed up their integration and sustainable development.

President Kabbah inspecting a guard of honour	President in handshake with Sierra Leoneans in Guinea

President Tejan Kabbah, Gyude Bryant, chairman of the National Transitional Government of Liberia and Guinean President and host Lansana Conteh, were joined by President Laurent Gbagbo of La Cote D'Ivoire and President Amadu Toumani Toure of Mali as observers at the summit held within the framework of reactivating the MRU in light of the new peaceful atmosphere prevailing in the sub-region.

The Heads of state summit was preceded by a conference of security and foreign affairs ministers of the three Mano River Union states held from 18 to 19 May 2004 in Conakry..

The President, Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, described the summit as very important for the three countries and added that the Mano River Union was established initially to build institutions for the development of trade and other activities among the member-states.

President Kabbah with President Lansana Conte	President Kabbah in discussion with President Lansana Conte

Unfortunately, he said that due to the conflicts that crept into the member countries those objectives were not achieved and stressed that the summit's main objective was to reactivate the MRU.

President Kabbah commended President Lansana Conteh for hosting the summit and welcomed Presidents Gbagbo and Toumani Toure for coming to support them to find solutions to the challenges confronting the member countries of the Union.

He called on his colleagues to collectively identify the real problems and work out a programme of action to collectively address them. While recognizing the importance donor partners attached to the meeting, President Kabbah looked forward to their cooperation in the identification and implementation of projects that would help ameliorate the problems in the sub-region.

Sierra Leoneans in Guinea	A cross section of participants at the conference

Chairman of the MRU and host, President Lansana Conte, said the summit symbolized the revival of peace in the sub-region whose people have suffered from over a decade of instability. The meeting, he said, provided the opportunity to build the future of the sub-region's children by learning from past mistakes and finding ways of preventing their recurrence.

He commended his brother heads of state from Sierra Leone and Liberia for their commitment and the presidents of Mali and Cote D'Ivoire for accepting to attend the meeting, saying their presence was very important as their two countries were not spared from the effect of the instability in the MRU basin.

President Conte stated that as Sierra Leone and Liberia work to heal their wounds it was important for all concerned to work to build the walls of security and stability and to take the path that would lead the people in the three countries to prosperity. He called on the international community to support this collective effort.

The Chairman of the Transitional Government of Liberia, Gyude Bryant said Liberia has always been accused of being the trouble maker, but said he was pleased that a new phase had started in the sub-region with the holding of the summit and apologized for any interruption Liberia may have caused to the functioning of the union.

He said Liberia's participation at the summit was to confirm to the world that the days of exporting revolution from Liberia were over, and that Liberia was now at peace with the union, with its neighbours and gradually getting to learn to live in peace with itself. Chairman Bryant called for the Joint Security Committee to be strengthened and solicited continued political support from other countries in the sub-region to ensure stability in Liberia.

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Sierra Leone, Ambassador Daudi Mwakawago, read a statement from the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan which said that the Mano River Union featured greatly in the activities of the UN over the past few years.

He said with the draw-down in Sierra Leone, Liberia now hosts the largest UN mission while there are plans to send six thousand peacekeepers to help in the implementation of the peace accord in La Cote D'Ivoire.

He noted that the region had suffered greatly from war and deprivation saying now was the time for the MRU leaders to exhibit political will to consolidate the peace and address the question of impunity and to work to promote trans-border cooperation and controls.
He said the region has a lot of resources and if properly managed it could serve as the engine of growth for the ECOWAS sub-region. He commended the Mano River Union Women's Peace Network for their leading role in the promotion of peace among member countries.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the summit, heads of state noted with satisfaction the progress made within the framework of the peace-building process and the restoration of state authority all over Sierra Leone. The Heads of State approved recommendations contained in the report of the joint security committee and decided to take all necessary actions within the framework of the re-establishment of confidence-building measures and security.

The leaders expressed commitment to support all the efforts of the international community for the restoration of lasting peace in Liberia and encouraged the National Transitional Government of Liberia to spare no effort to ensure the full enforcement of the Accra Peace Agreement, particularly the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration Programme (DDR).

The summit reiterated its appeal to the International Community for additional support in order to reactivate the MRU institutions and allow for the implementation of the existing protocols particularly those relating to security, defence and confidence- building initiatives.

The Heads of State also reiterated their determination to further strengthen their brotherly and friendly relationships within the framework of permanent reinforcement of the historical relations which unite their countries and expressed their commitment to settle any differences through peaceful means.

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