Foreign Minister Madam Marjon V. Kamara has received the Letters of Accreditation from the new Head of the African Union Liaison Office in Liberia, H.E. Mr. Ibrahim M. Kamara.

Ambassador Kamara takes over from H.E. Ambassador Harrison Oluwantoyin Solaja, who served a four-year tenure in Liberia very well; especially during the 2014 deadly Ebola pandemic that mainly engulfed States in the Mano River Union.

According to a Foreign Ministry release, presenting his Letters of Accreditation to Foreign Minister Kamara earlier this week, Ambassador Kamara, who is also the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union (SRCAU), said being a Sierra Leonean, one of Liberia’s closest neighbors, he feels at home since his arrival in the country. “The food is so like what we have back home in Sierra Leone,” he added.

Ambassador Kamara, who’s prior assignment was the Republic of the Sudan, stated that he is happy to take up the new assignment in Liberia to represent the continental group.

He informed Foreign Minister Kamara that the AU’s mandate with its Member States have not changed. “It’s always about engagement with the relevant authorities,” he said, adding that the AU is also here to monitor the upcoming elections. “Everybody wants a free, fair, credible and transparent election, which the AU knows that the Liberian Government has committed itself it providing,” the new AU Ambassador indicated; adding, “If anyone needs it now, we think it is Liberia and Sierra Leone because of where they both have come from few years ago.”

Ambassador Kamara informed the Foreign Minister Kamara that the African Union now has a strategy of not only observing the balloting process of Member States’ elections, but also takes keen interests in all the processes leading up to casting of the ballots.

The new SRCAU also told Liberia’s chief diplomat that the AU has now forged partnership with relevant stakeholders in the election process, including the National Elections Commission (NEC) and that they are also engaging with political parties.

He further told Minister Kamara that in their monitoring process, they have also informed the rest of the world of the tremendous progress that the Liberian Government has made coming from years of conflict and the deadly Ebola crisis.

Ambassador Kamara thanked the Foreign Minister for according him the time to meet with her; adding, “Liberia is my second home.”

Responding, Foreign Minister Kamara stressed that peoples of both Sierra Leone and Liberia are in many ways the same. She assured him of government’s fullest support in working with his office. “You have come at a time when we are in transition. Please feel free to always share your thoughts with us on anything you may observe; we are going to listen,” she told him.

Minister Kamara also suggested that in addition to the continental body’s peace initiatives, they should liaise with the country’s peace-building office, which is managed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

She assured Ambassador Kamara that the peace initiative in Liberia will succeed and that the AU can take cue from Liberia’s approaches and those steps can be replicated in other parts of Africa.

Foreign Minister Kamara further suggested to the new Head of the African Union Liaison Office in Liberia that the presence of the continental body needs to be felt among the people and not just those working with at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.