ECOWAS Commends Sierra Leone’s “Choice of Peace,” Urges Stakeholders to Honour Unity Agreement Ahead of 2028

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has praised Sierra Leone’s political leaders for what it called a clear “choice of peace.” It urged all stakeholders to honour the Agreement for National Unity (ANU) and related commitments as the country heads toward the 2028 general elections.
ECOWAS Resident Representative to Sierra Leone, Ambassador John Azumah, delivered the message at the opening of a two-day National Unity and Social Cohesion Conference. The Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion (ICPNC) convened the conference to mark its fifth anniversary. Ambassador Azumah spoke on behalf of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, General Birame Diop, who could not attend.
The conference theme is “From Commitment to Action: Rebuilding Trust, Strengthening National Unity and Advancing Social Cohesion.” President Julius Maada Bio, former President Ernest Bai Koroma, the First Lady, the Vice President and the former Vice President all attended. So did the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General, government ministers, Members of Parliament, political party leaders, Paramount Chiefs, religious leaders, diplomats and civil society representatives.
Ambassador Azumah congratulated the ICPNC on its fifth anniversary and on what he described as a 57th-place global ranking in the Global Peace Index. He said the Commission had “earned its place as the center of peace and national dialogue.” He pointed to its work on peace policies and its monitoring of peace agreements and of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations. He also noted its role in the 18 October 2023 talks that produced the Agreement for National Unity. That agreement created the Tripartite Committee and its 80 recommendations on unity, governance and security sector reform.
He said the ICPNC also supported the International Moral Guarantors (ECOWAS, UNOWAS and the Commonwealth) during their third monitoring mission on the ANU’s implementation in April this year.
The ECOWAS envoy cited several recent developments as “signs of choice of peace”: President Bio’s “Choose Peace” lecture. Former President Koroma’s return home last month, which ECOWAS welcomed in the interest of national reconciliation.
The President’s decision to refer the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2025 to the Supreme Court for an opinion instead of signing it, after listening to differing public views on how Parliament adopted it.
The President’s statement at the UN General Assembly that he will hand over to his successor after the 2028 presidential elections.
“The willingness of Sierra Leone’s leadership… to share a platform and engage in honest reflection sets a powerful example for the entire West African region,” Ambassador Azumah said.
He recalled ECOWAS’s role in Sierra Leone’s history, including the ECOMOG intervention in the 1990s. He noted that 18 January, the date hostilities ended, was observed for the first time as a National Day of Remembrance this year. He also cited the ECOWAS Logistics Depot at Lungi, which serves as a regional hub for peace operations and ECOWAS Standby Force deployments.
He closed with three take-aways. First, conflict prevention must be “a default, not an afterthought,” and early warning must turn into early action. Second, trust is built only when agreements are honoured “in letter and in spirit.” Here he called on stakeholders to keep to the ANU, the Tripartite Committee recommendations and the 8-Point Declaration of April 2026. Third, cohesion “cannot be decreed from the seat of government.” It has to be built in provinces, chiefdoms, mosques, churches, markets and classrooms.
“We all have only one country called Sierra Leone,” he said. He described a “One Sierra Leone” as the only path to peace, unity and prosperity.
He assured participants of ECOWAS’s “unwavering commitment and support.” He linked peace in Sierra Leone to the wider region and to the ECOWAS Vision 2050 agenda of “Peace and Prosperity for All.”