Capitol Hill, Monrovia – The foreign minister of Liberia, Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, Sr., has praised and thanked ECOWAS and all of its member states for their support of the country’s elections, which included the October 10, 2023, presidential and legislative elections as well as the November 14, 2023, run-off or second round of the presidential election.
“I wish to inform all of you, My Dear Esteemed Colleagues of this Council of Ministers of ECOWAS, and further reaffirm my profound unconditional and unflinching practical support of the stance of, simply put, categorical unreserved Universal Statesmanhood decision and Concession and Congratulations of George Manneh Weah, President of the Republic of Liberia, an inarguable Global Grand Champion of Democracy, Good Governance, Statesmanship, Peace, Constitutional Order, Development, and Comprehensive and Integrated Human Empowerment, to Ambassador Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Sr. , President-Elect of the Republic of Liberia.”
Given the impending change of government in Liberia on January 22, 2024, Minister Kemayah stated that his attendance at the ninety-first (91st) Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers will be his final and last in his current capacity as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Dean of the Cabinet of the Republic of Liberia.
Amb. Kemayah notified his colleagues that President WEAH’s concession and call of congratulations to President-elect Ambassador Boakai were made a few days before the National Elections Commission of the Republic of Liberia finalised the tallying, declared the results, and named the winner of the Tuesday, November 14, 2023, Second Round/Presidential Run-off Election.
Using the occasion, Foreign Minister Kemayah expressed gratitude to the Permanent Representative Council (PRC) for discussing the Memos during its first meeting, which took place at the ECOWAS Commission on November 29, 2023, and for providing the required recommendations for our review.
“I also thank the President of the Commission and Council for our work in establishing the PRC, which includes all our Ambassadors and High Commissioners accredited to the ECOWAS Commission. That the PRC is now an advisory organ of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers is a significant milestone that puts it on par with its counterparts at the AU and UN in implementing the peace, security,, and governance architecture and programs of regional integration of ECOWAS. We humbly take cognizance of the leadership and advocacy role Liberia played and continues to play in the premise, under the astute presidency of George Manneh Weah, President of the Republic of Liberia. Further, in the premise, Liberia hereby endorses the recommendation that the Permanent Representative Council, as an Advisory Organ of the Council of Ministers of ECOWAS, should henceforth consider cross-cutting regional issues beyond peace and security”
According to Foreign Minister Kemayah, the Republic of Liberia is the only candidate from the Western Africa Region for the UN Security Council Non-Permanent Member Seat for the years 2026 and 2027. This was confirmed by the Executive Council of the African Union in Nairobi, Kenya on July 13, 2023, as the only candidate for the region. This is based on the Republic of Liberia’s prior unanimous endorsement at the July 9, 2023, ECOWAS Bissau Summit of Heads of State and Government in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, as the only candidate from the Western Africa Region for the UN Security Council Non-Permanent Member Seat for the periods 2026 and 2027. This was stated clearly in the Final Communique of the previously mentioned
