The September 30, 2024 deadline cannot be disproved. All the ECOWAS Troops have already assembled in most of the nations in the West African sub-region and shall deploy in Sierra Leone in accordance with the ECOWAS Commission’s mandate as strictly instructed by the United Nations Security Council. So for the doubters and doomsters and sceptics of the ECOWAS arrival this month, they would soon hang their coconut heads in shame.

Democracy and constitutional rule shall reign supreme in Sierra Leone and on time according to the dictates of the Tripartite recommendations. Competent sources say the various ECOWAS governments have momentarily approved their own quotas of soldiers they have agreed to contribute to the contingents that would add to the bulk of the ECOWAS numbers meant for deployments at the Lungi Depot, in Kerry Town, at Hastings Airfield and in Murray Town/Aberdeen axis.

In terms of military might, the big brother nations in the sub-region such as Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal etc in that order and the smaller countries like Gambia, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Chad and so on will contribute their own soldiers and there are indications that these countries have approved their quotas ready for deployment in Sierra Leone. Everyone has already seen and heard about Gambia approving 150 strong personnel for the ECOWAS contingents.

The determined ECOWAS Chairman Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is also the President of Nigeria, has reiterated the Commission’s determination to restore constitutional rule in troubled Sierra Leone and in Guinea Bissau. “Democracy will win. We will definitely fight for democracy. For any challenges in Sierra Leone, we will fight,” President Tinubu has noted many times publicly. The deployment of the ECOWAS personnel is centred on this mandate.

Today, as Sierra Leoneans patiently wait for the arrival of the ECOWAS Standby Stabilisation Forces to the country, the vigilant members of the Council of APC Media Bloggers and its Auxiliary have cautioned all patriotic citizens to wait at home with their posters and placards until the troops have landed in Freetown before they could come out to give rousing welcome to the ECOWAS peacekeepers to Freetown.

As Sierra Leone voters hopefully expect the foreign soldiers and police officers before September 30, the people of Guinea-Bissau have already welcomed the ECOWAS Troops to Bissau on Monday September 16, 2024. It is now the turn for Sierra Leone people to give rousing welcome to ECOWAS anytime now. Though the people’s support for the ECOWAS mandate is rising, the illegal President Maada Bio is totally against ECOWAS deployments.

Bio continues to bribe heavily to stop the deployments but to no avail. Meanwhile, only three out of the 16 West African countries that make up the ECOWAS Commission have refused to contribute troops because of obvious reasons. The three absentees include the military juntas in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali and their conspicuous absence stems from their withdrawal from the Commission that emanated from ECOWAS sanctions imposed on them because of the military takeovers in the trio nations.

Gambian Lawmakers Approve a Motion to Deploy 150 Soldiers to Sierra Leone

By the Standard

As part of an ECOWAS stabilisation mission, the Gambian Vice President Mohammed BS Jallow said ECOWAS will cover the deployment costs, including troop allowances. The mission aims to address security issues following an alleged coup attempt in Sierra Leone last November. According to VP Jallow the deployment will also benefit The Gambia, as ECOWAS will reimburse the country for using its vehicles. “By deploying our gallant Gambian troops to restore order and protect the democratic aspirations of our fellow West African brothers and sisters, we can contribute to the restoration of stability and the protection of constitutional values in Sierra Leone.

“The Gambian military has demonstrated its professionalism and commitment towards regional peacekeeping missions as evidenced by our successful participation in previous ECOWAS and UN operations. Our troops will act under the authority of ECOWAS, taking direction from its leadership and adhering to the overall operational objectives defined by ECOWAS,” VP Jallow stated.