MEETING BETWEEN H.E. MIATA LILY FRENCH, RESIDENT REPRESENTATIVE, ECOWAS PERMANENT MISSION, THE GAMBIA, AND A UNITED DEMOCRATIC PARTY (UDP) DELEGATION

UDP Delegation with Ms Miatta Lily French ECOWAS Permanent Mission Resident Representative

FRIDAY, 27 JANUARY 2023

At the request of United Democratic Party (UDP), the Resident Representative of the ECOWAS Permanent Mission in The Gambia, Ms. Miatta Lily French, received a UDP delegation at her office, in Bijilo, yesterday Thursday, 26 January 2023. The Resident Representative was assisted by the Office’s Political Adviser, Mr. Claude Kondor. The four-person UDP delegation was made up of Mr. Lamin Manneh, Deputy Secretary, External Affairs and the Diaspora, of the UDP, Mr. Amadou Taal, former Minister and Ambassador, Mrs. Ramzia Diab-Ghanim, former National Assembly Member and Ambassador, and Mr. Mbemba Tambedou, former Minister and Deputy Ambassador.
The meeting started at 11:00 and lasted over and hour. During the meeting, Her Excellency, Ms. Miatta Lily French and her guests discussed issues relating to:

1. the upcoming local elections and the need to ensure free, fair and transparent elections;
2. the imperative to maintain peace, security, stability and economic development in the ECOWAS
   region;
3. the need to step up intra-ECOWAS trade and the necessary adoption of trade-facilitation
   measures in compliance with the Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, Goods and Services
   as well as the Establishment of Persons within the Community space;
4. enhancement of regional integration;
5. the welcome role of ECOMIG during the political impasse of the post-2016 presidential elections
   and the Gambian people’s current perception of ECOMIG forces;
6. the professionalism of the Gambian Army in the wake of the 2016 elections and their current role
   alongside the ECOMIC forces, within the wider context of security-sector reforms;
7. the role that ECOWAS could play in facilitating implementation of the TRRC recommendations, such as establishment of the proposed hybrid court while ensuring a desirable level of subsidiarity, which would allow the Gambian courts to prosecute a certain number of cases that do not require escalation to a hybrid court. That would reassure the victims that the TRRC recommendations are
   being implemented and that would facilitate closure;
8. the empowerment of youths and women who constitute a significant component of any country;
9. the difficult global economic context and what ECOWAS countries could do to alleviate challenges;
   and
10. the need to ensure that our regional body, ECOWAS, continues to enjoy strong support from our
    development partners and the Community citizens and governments.
    In her concluding remarks, H.E. Miatta Lily French expressed appreciation for the visit by the UDP delegation and encouraged the party to continue to show commitment to democracy and the rule of law as no development is conceivable or achievable without stability. She promised to share with the ECOWAS Commission leadership, the issues raised during the meeting. The UDP delegation expressed its appreciation to its host for the warm welcome.