By Mabinty M. Kamara
In the latest diplomatic move to ensure peaceful co-existence with the neighboring republic of Guinea, President Julius Maada Bio and President Alpha Conde have signed a communiqué agreeing, among other things to re-open their common border and resume full cooperation in other areas.
According to the document “the two leaders also agreed to reactivate the Joint Technical Committee on Yenga, which shall commence sittings in Nongowa, on 3rd March 2021. They also agreed to implement the agreement on Joint Border Patrols along the common border from 5th March 2021,” while the two foreign ministers, Sierra Leone’s Nabeela Tunis and Guinea’s Dr. Ibrahim Khalil Kaba would immediately restart the holding of the Joint Commission of Cooperation meetings between the two countries.
The communiqué according to State House in Freetown contains a raft of bilateral agreements to cooperate with each other on security, defense, public health, ICT, mining, justice, transport, private investments, and cultural exchanges.
The Heads of State further pledged to use their good offices to provide the necessary capacity to address the current and emerging public health emergencies such as COVID-19 and EBOLA in the two countries.
At the sub-regional level, President Bio and President Conde welcomed the latest decisions for the return of Mali to constitutional order, in accordance with the provisions of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and reiterated their continental commitment to always defend the African interest.
The two presidents welcomed the decision of the African Union Heads of State and Government to launch the first operational stage of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement and commended the implementation of the 2063 agenda and other reforms initiated at the African Union.
The two-day meeting, held in Conakry follows reciprocal visits between ministers of both countries to each other’s capitals as part of the efforts to address the twin issues of the common border closure and the disputed town of Yenga in the eastern part of Sierra Leone.
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