By Sorie Ibrahim Fofanah
The Assistant Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier General Amara Idara Bangura of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces has said the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will deploy its forces in Sierra Leone in bid to curb what he termed unconstitutional change of government and terrorism in its member states.
Brigadier Bangura made this statement at the government's weekly press briefing hosted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 4th June 2024, as he gave updates about the proposed deployment of regional troops to Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone, he added, will serve as a centre for the ECOWAS forces from where they can easily send troops whenever any of its member states faces threats of coup or terrorism.
He noted how Sierra Leone had faced a series of incidents in recent times, but that the Sierra Leone Armed Forces succeeded in foiling them.
He however maintained that ECOWAS troops are coming to "complement" their work and not to substitute the Sierra Leone’s forces, noting the ECOWAS forces would be under the supervision of the Ministry of Defence, Office of National Security and the Sierra Leone Police.
He also noted that a base and office will be designated for the ECOWAS military, and will not be deployed at checkpoints. He also noted that the ECOWAS forces will not be in the same office and barracks with the country's forces, but will cooperate in areas of training and other security matters.
He recalled how Sierra Leone had signed an agreement with ECOWAS in 1989 to have a military base for the Economic Community of West Africa Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) in the country, noting that Sierra Leone is a member state. “Some of the treaties that are framed have clauses and Sierra Leone had agreed with ECOWAS to have a base here,” he emphasised.
He also recalled how a delegation of ECOWAS officials had visited the country on 24th February this year in bid to map out the establishment of its base in Sierra Leone, noting the deployment of forces requires a “lot” of process. “So they came and had a discussion with us. They met with the Office of National Security (ONS), the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) and Ministry of defence,” he added.
During their engagement with ECOWAS, the Assistant Chief of Defence Staff said they did checks, and realized that Sierra Leone has a stable armed forces, stable police force, prison force and national security architecture. ” We have professional security personnel in all the security agencies,” Bangura said, and that the ECOWAS delegation opted to help with more security in the country.
“They saw that we are so stable in such a way that they only need to give us support and that support will be in the form of training and doing some operations together,” he said.
Bangura emphasised how the ECOWAS military base in Sierra Leone will be used to counter any security threat directed at its member states.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (12/06/24)
