Former president Koroma of Sierra Leone joins Leaders to discuss Africa’s peace and security

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 2 September 2019:

Sierra Leone’s statesman, former President Ernest Bai Koroma, has just landed in Accra, Ghana, where he will be joining his peers at the maiden edition of the Kofi Annan Peace and Security (KAPS) Forum on the theme: “Peace Operations in the Context of Violent Extremism in Africa”.

The KAPS maiden edition is being organized by the internationally acclaimed Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center (KAIPTC), in collaboration with the Federal Government of Germany and the Government of Norway.

Extending the invitation to former President Koroma, KAIPTC states that “given the critical role that His Excellency has played in bringing peace, stability and democracy to Sierra Leone and the wider West Africa region, we will be grateful for former President Koroma to share his rich insights and perspectives on the theme.”

When President Koroma was elected in 2007, the first and largest United Nations Peace Building Mission was still deployed in the country, amidst fears that if the peace which Sierra Leone had just attained was not well managed, the country could easily slip back into war.

However, by the time he ended his first term, the United Nations felt satisfied to close down its Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone.

In addition, Sierra Leone has been classed by the Global Peace Index as the most peaceful country in West Africa and the third most peaceful in Africa from 2016 to 2018.

Under the distinguished Chairmanship of His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), the KAPS Forum, slated for 4-5 September, 2019, will assemble over two hundred (200) high-level delegates.

Sierra Leone’s former President Koroma will share a panel with H.E. Pierre Buyoya, Former President of Burundi and AU High Representative to Mali and Sahel (MISAHEL), H.E. Thabo Mbeki, Former President of the Republic of South Africa, H.E Catharine Samba-Panza for the Central African Republic-CAR, H.E. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, former President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H.E. Jerry John Rawlings, H.E. John H.E. John Agyekum Kufuor, and H.E. John Dramani Mahama, former Presidents of the Republic of Ghana.