MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS LAYS OUT NEW PLAN FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L FREETOWN 000377

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/29/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV SL
SUBJECT: MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS LAYS OUT NEW PLAN FOR
COORDINATION

Classified By: Ambassador June Carter Perry for reasons 1.4(b/d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: The Minister of Foreign Affairs and
International Cooperation (MFA),Zainab Bangura, convened a
meeting of Chiefs of Missions and heads of UN agencies on
July 22 to provide updates on the Government of Sierra
Leone's (GoSL) activities, as well as provide a forum for the
diplomatic corps to raise questions and concerns. The
Minister of Finance provided a brief review of pending
issues. Minister Bangura intends to regularly convene these
meetings every other month, and will invite other government
ministers to attend and make presentations to the corps. This
initiative will hopefully address the limited coordination
with and amongst donors. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Minister Bangura convened the diplomatic corps on July
22 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss issues of
relevance and to moderate a brief discussion period. Besides
Ambassador Perry, representatives from most diplomatic
missions, including the United Kingdom, European Commission,
Germany, China, Guinea, Ghana, The Gambia, Liberia, Libya,
and Iran were in attendance. The Executive Representative of
the Secretary-General, as well as the heads of such UN
agencies as UNICEF and UNDP, also attended.


3. (C) The Minister outlined pending issues to the group.
These included the need for meeting requests with President
Koroma to be relayed via the MFA, and the planned expansion
of the GoSL diplomatic presence abroad to include missions in
Brazil, India, and Senegal. Minister Bangura also provided
updates on the anti-narcotics and anti-corruption
legislation. She indicated that both should be passed, likely
by the President signing Certificates of Emergency, this week
(NOTE: Neither pieces of legislation have been signed or
enacted as of July 28. END NOTE). The Minister used the forum
to remind the group that the GoSL recognized Kosovo
independence, and to praise the President for his stance on
the situation in Zimbabwe. She intends to reconvene the group
every other month, and will request that other Ministers make
presentations on sectoral topics of interest to the
participants.


4. (C) Minister of Finance David Carew discussed several
issues of concern to his ministry and the assembly. In
particular, he stated that funding has been secured to
improve the road conditions between Freetown and Lungi
International Airport, which he believes will have a
beneficial impact for encouraging investment. He also noted
his awareness that humanitarian assistance and goods have
been inappropriately subjected to duties as of late, and that
he will be addressing this issue with the National Revenue
Authority.


5. (C) Members of the diplomatic corps thanked the Minister
for her initiative in calling the meeting, and briefly
mentioned topics of interest for future discussions. These
topics include: re-branding the country's image from one of
"post-conflict" to "developing;" difficulties encountered
receiving timely information from the MFA about official
delegations to various conferences and events (NOTE: Though
this topic was raised by the Egyptian Ambassador, it has been
problematic for the Mission as well. Information regarding
the AGOA Forum delegation, for example, was provided to
Emboffs at the last-minute, in a piecemeal fashion. Complete
information regarding their delegation was never received,
despite repeated requests for more than two months. END
NOTE); and concerns about the quality of local media
reporting.


6. (C) COMMENT: Regular meetings with the MFA and diplomatic
corps will be a useful means of ensuring that all have the
same information about certain issues, as well as assist with
coordinating initiatives. It also provides an opportunity for
common problems amongst the missions, such as inappropriate
taxation, to be raised with the MFA. Minister Bangura's
comments about keeping the MFA in the loop in terms of
Presidential communications were strident, and appeared to be
borne of frustration that appropriate protocols have not been
followed in recent months. While such frustration is
legitimate, it must be noted that ineffective handling of
requests, resulting in meetings being moved or canceled, are
likely the reason that Missions have stopped following normal
procedures. This meeting is a hopeful sign that the MFA is
starting to address its internal problems related to limited
capacity and lack of operating guidelines. Such changes will
benefit bilateral relationships and enable the Ministry to
take an active role in encouraging collaboration between
donors. END COMMENT.
PERRY