THE MANO RIVER Union (MRU), the four-member sub-regional body which incorporates Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast, has the very important responsibility of carrying out the mandate of promoting peace and regional stability amongst its four member states. To achieve this mandate, the MRU has consistently collaborated and cooperated with ECOWAS, the African Union and the United Nations.
THE EFFECTIVE EXECUTION of MRU mandate is, however, being challenged by the porosity of borders of member states, which permit the easy movement of such impediments to peace and stability as small arms and light weapons and contraband.
PRESIDENT GEORGE MANNEH Weah, as President of Liberia is one of the four torchbearers of this regional commitment to peace and security. In a special statement delivered on Monday, November 22, 2021 at the Farmington Hotel, Margibi County, at the opening of the “MRU Diplomatic, Peace, Security and Democracy Conference”, President Weah observed the MRU uses collaboration and cooperation in the realization of its goal.
“PART OF OUR shared legacies is internal political discordance that historically caused the breakdown of democracy and governance at some point in each of the Member States of our sub-region. These unfortunate experiences must now inform our quest for durable diplomacy, peace, security and democracy in the sub-region,” President Weah disclosed at the conference.
THE LIBERIAN LEADER however said he is pleased with the fact that MRU is working with ECOWAS, UNOWAS and other partners to revise its 2012 15th Protocol on Peace, Security and Defense in order to address these scaring threats. “This ECOWAS-MRU collaboration should be viewed as part of the on-going ECOWAS and AU reform processes; in which the decentralization of regional and sub-regional responsibilities are undertaken to reduce cost and ensure the sustainability of peace, security, and democracy, at the local level of development,” the Liberian leader stated.
ACCORDING TO PRESIDENT Weah, the MRU-ECOWAS collaboration should support conflict management, resolution, and political transformation in Guinea as an added impetus to the proposed revision of the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance. He proposed the establishment of a merged ECOWAS-AU-MRU Mission, supported by the United Nations Peace-building Commission and Peace-building Fund, to mediate in the current Guinean transitional arrangements being undertaken in Guinea.
“WE URGE THE Secretary-General and the Secretariat of the Mano River Union to reach out to the African Union, United Nations Peace-building Commission and Peace Building Fund, to foster stronger and more active partnerships in peace-building initiatives for the Mano River Union,” President Weah asserted further, urging leaders of the sub-region to begin to examine the root causes and determinants of conflict and insecurity if they are to be successful in finding sustainable solutions for peace, security, stability and democracy.