Liberia: Concerns Mount Over “Ill-Representation and Undermining” of Liberia’s Diplomatic Position at ECOWAS Parliament Amid Border Dispute with Neighboring Guinea
MONROVIA – Concerns are emerging over the failure of members of Liberia’s delegation to the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) to raise or formally address the ongoing border dispute between Liberia and neighboring Guinea before the regional body.
Those representing Liberia at the ECOWAS parliament are Senators Edwin Snowe (head of delegation) and Alex Tyler of Bomi County and Representatives Taa Wongbe, Moima Briggs Mensah and Samuel Enders of Nimba, Bong and Montserrado Counties respectively.
For nearly two months now, Guinean soldiers and custom officers have crossed over to the Liberian side of the border in Sorlumba Townn, Foya District in Lofa county.
The soldiers had earlier stopped road construction workers from mining in the Makona River and seized mining equipment.
But the delegation adopted a “silent posture” and also omitted the border dispute from Liberia’s latest report submitted to ECOWAS-a move which raises concerns about ill representing the country’s national interest at a time when stronger diplomatic engagement is being demanded over the sensitive territorial matter.
Abiante’s concern
The omission of the border dispute in the report and noticeable silence of the Liberian delegation on the matter prompted renowned Nigerian Representative Awaji-Inombek Abiante to flag the matter during regular sitting at the ECOWAS Parliament on Wednesday.
Abiante, who represents the people of Andoni/Opobo-Nkoro Federal Constituency in Rivers State in Nigeria’s House of Representatives, is a member of the Nigerian Delegation to the ECOWAS parliament.
In a viral video, Abiante observed that though regional bodies, including ECOWAS have condemned the presence of Guinean soldiers on the Liberian side of the border, members of the Liberian delegation to the parliament have failed to raise or report the matter at the level of the parliament.
He noted that the Liberian delegation is showing “no regard on the issue that has put our hearts on the line.”
Abiante also recalled the expulsion of Montserrado County District 10 Representative Yekeh Kolubah by the House of Representatives for his claims made on the territory dispute between Liberia and Guinea.
Kolubah was expelled for claiming that he has evidence in his position which shows that the territory currently being occupied by Guinean soldiers and custom officers belongs to Guinea.
“We need to know what has happened. I think we need to find out the true about the situation. A lawmaker spoke about it and was expelled; the world is now a global village. What I’m saying here now somebody in Canada will hear it in seconds. For a member of parliament to open up and say this is a true position that he believes that this territory belongs to Guinea and what Liberia could do would be to expel him from parliament. I don’t know what report Liberia is presenting. I need to know what has happened; what is it that made them to withdraw?,” Abiante stated.
Report was not reviewed
Speaking on a local radio via telephone Thursday, Representative Taa Wongbe, a member of the Liberian delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament, disclosed that reports from Liberia to ECOWAS Parliament are not fully prepared by those representing the country at the parliament, but an ECOWAS Secretariat setup in Liberia.
According to him, the secretariat lately submitted the latest report to the delegation for onward submission to the parliament, and as such, the delegation did not have ample time to peruse the report prior to its presentation.
“These reports are not done by us who are representing Liberia. We received these reports and go through them. But this specific report didn’t come to us until Monday. We didn’t had the time to go back and forth because the report had to be submitted and subscribe into different languages including French, Portuguese and English. We did had the time and so on Monday, the report was presented by Senator Snowe who is the head of our delegation.”
Rep. Wongbe added that though the delegation has made numerous additions and subtractions on previous reports received from the secretariat and submitted to the parliament, they (Liberian delegation) failed to include the Liberia-Guinea border dispute in the latest report submitted to the regional body.
Rep. Wongbe attributed the delegation’s failure to the need for Liberia to meet up with the limited time-frame provided by the parliament for the submission of reports.
Jabbing critics
When contacted via whatsapp, Senator Snowe said “no comment.” But on his official facebook page, Senator Snowe threw jabs at those condemning him for failing to report a sensitive border situation to the ECOWAS Parliament.
“When you add it in the report they bark, when you don’t add it in the report, they bark. I will just continue going to my destination and wouldn’t throw stones at every dog that barks,” Senator Snowe stated.
Snowe’s opposition
Senator Snowe has been consistently condemned by many Liberians home and abroad for a controversial comments made on Spoon Talk Show wishing for the failure of the Boakai-Koung Administration.
“I actually want him to be a one-term president, so if he doesn’t do better then it’s good. I pray he doesn’t [do better], so we can move them from power.”
Senator Snowe argued that his comments were political opinions about wanting the ruling Unity Party(UP) Government voted out after one term not a call for violence or destabilization.
However, the Government of Liberia(GoL), through the Ministry of Information and officials including Daniel Sando, accused Senator Snowe of making “irresponsible and inflammatory statements” intended to undermine the state.
Senator Snowe reacted by complaining to the Liberian Senate about perceived threats on his life from the GoL.
He also threatened to resign as head of the Liberian delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament if the government or ruling party request him to do so.
The omission of a key territorial dispute in the report submitted by Senator Snowe raises eyebrows over the protection and adequate representation of Liberia’s territorial integrity by those representing the country at the ECOWAS Parliament.
It questions the delegation’s, which is not on record for submitting any report, motion, or communication to the ECOWAS Parliament, ability to represent the interest of the country on the growing territorial concerns along the Liberia–Guinea border.
Critics believe that members of the delegation’s silence on the matter undermines Liberia’s diplomatic position.
No consultations
Members of the delegation have also failed to hold consultations with Liberian authorities as well as local leaders in the border region, or Guinean counterparts regarding the dispute.
This clearly raises an alarm over the delegation’s responsibility to proactively defend Liberia’s territorial interests on international platforms.
Many citizens believe that the border dispute has not received enough international attention due to the failure of the delegation to report the growing tensions since it started two months ago.
Meanwhile, citizens are calling for ECOWAS to commission a fact-finding mission or mediation committee to address the Liberia–Guinea border concerns to prevent further escalation.
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