By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
Former Sierra Leone ambassador to the United Nations, Allieu Kanu, has called on government “to take strong diplomatic actions against Senegal for banning flights from picking passengers from Sierra Leone".
He made the call at a press conference on Monday at his Institute of International Law in Freetown. He urged that government should take Senegal to the UN, the highest diplomatic level.
He claimed that he had to react in the manner he did because a recent Senegalese government minister had recommended flight ban to Sierra Leone. He said the minister had blamed the Sierra Leone government for not “doing enough to contain the Ebola virus”.
The ambassador also expressed disappointment over the actions of the South African and South Korea governments who have slammed a ban. He claimed that both governments “are derailing the effort of Sierra Leoneans in their struggle against the Ebola outbreak”, adding that the South Korean government had pressed Kenya Airways to cancel flights to Sierra Leone or it would stop flying to Nairobi. He referred to the country’s support to South Africa in their days of apartheid.
Amb. Kanu also blamed the international community for “a slow response to the Ebola outbreak”, adding: “I am of the view that if the International community had responded quickly, the Ebola outbreak wouldn’t have reached this stage.”
He said he had represented Sierra Leone at the UN for a considerable period and therefore knew how the organisation used to respond to “such outbreaks in any part of the world.”
(C) Politico 28/08/14
