The Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union (AU), has appointed, today, Ambassador Ibrahim Mbaba Kamara, of the Republic of Sierra Leone as her Special Representative and Head of the AU Liaison Office (AULO) in the Republic of Liberia.

Since 2012, Ambassador Kamara has been serving as the AU Senior Political Advisor at the AU Liaison Office in Sudan. He has extensive professional experience in political and diplomatic fields, among others, he served as Cabinet Minister in Sierra Leone (1978-1989), and served as the Ambassador of the Republic of Sierra Leone to different countries (1996-2008), including: Federal Republic of Ethiopia, United States of America, Brazil, Canada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, Republic of Korea, Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique, Lesotho, Tanzania, Madagascar and Zambia. Ambassador Kamara also served as Permanent Representative to the OAU/AU and UNECA and to the United Nations (UN) in New York.

The appointment of the new Special Representative and Head of the AULO in Liberia, comes at a time when the AU has been effectively engaging with the Government of the Republic of Liberia in supporting and facilitating socio-economic development over the past decade. The AU will continue to support the Government and people of Liberia to ensure the successful conduct of the presidential and legislative elections in 2017.

In pursuit of his mandate, Ambassador Kamara will maintain a constant interaction with the Government of Liberia and other stakeholders. He will also work closely with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and its member States, as well as with relevant bilateral and multilateral partners, including the UN and the EU. He will also assist in promoting coherence at the national, continental and international levels in support of peace, security, democracy and development in Liberia.

The Chairperson of the Commission would like to express her sincere appreciation to Ambassador Harrison Oluwatoyin Solaja, her former Special Representative and Head of the AULO in Liberia, for his leadership and commitment in pursing the mandate of the AULO. Under his tenure, the AULO provided invaluable support to Government and people of the Republic of Liberia during and in the immediate aftermath of the Ebola crisis.