After the ‘coup’ attempt, an ECOWAS delegation arrived in Sierra Leone

On Saturday, a West African group led by Senegal and Ghana’s leaders arrived in Sierra Leone to lay the framework for a “security mission” in the aftermath of an alleged coup attempt in November.

Armed assailants assaulted a military armoury, two barracks, two jails, and two police stations on November 26, clashing with security forces.

Twenty-one people were killed and hundreds of prisoners escaped before authorities were able to regain control after what they deemed a coup attempt by members of the armed forces.

The violence sparked fears of another coup in West Africa, where Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea have all experienced putsches since 2020.

A recent summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) launched the delegation to “facilitate the deployment of a security mission to Sierra Leone to help stabilise the country”.

“After the heinous attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government on November 26, ECOWAS considered that the region must be protected and decided to send a stabilisation mission to Sierra Leone,” the country’s Foreign Minister Timothy Kabba said in a radio interview late Friday.

He insisted that the ECOWAS force would not be a military intervention, noting similar forces in Gambia and Guinea Bissau.

“We have a very competent army that suppressed the insurgents — in no way does this impinge on Sierra Leone’s sovereignty,” Kabba said.

Senegal’s President Macky Sall and Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo are both in Freetown to discuss the security situation with Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio, their offices said.

Sierra Leone authorities on Wednesday lifted the curfew that was imposed in the wake of the November 26 clashes.