Africa-Press – Liberia. He emphasized the urgency of building institutional synergy and leveraging parliamentary collaboration to tackle cross-border challenges and promote regional progress.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives of Liberia, Richard Koon and his three counterparts on Sunday, July 20, launched the Mano River Union Parliamentary Body (MRUPB). The ceremony was held at the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ministerial Complex in Monrovia.
The event brought together all four Speakers of the Mano River Union (MRU) member states — Segepoh Solomon Thomas (Sierra Leone), Dr. Dansa Kourouma (Guinea), and Adama Bictogo (Côte d’Ivoire) — along with parliamentary delegates and key Liberian government officials, including Senate President Pro Tempore Nyonblee Karnga-Lawrence.
“Today, we reaffirm our shared destiny and collective responsibility to build a region that is more united, more resilient, and more responsive to the needs of our people,” Speaker Koon said in his keynote address.
“This Parliamentary Body is a critical institutional bridge. It allows us to approach our regional challenges not in isolation, but with a unified legislative voice—consistent, coherent, and committed to the well-being of all our citizens,” Speaker Koon noted.
He emphasized the urgency of building institutional synergy and leveraging parliamentary collaboration to tackle cross-border challenges and promote regional progress.
The MRUPB is designed as a legislative platform to harmonize national laws, coordinate regional policies, and collectively address issues such as cross-border trade, environmental challenges, regional security, and gender equity.
Outlining the MRUPB’s strategic priorities, Speaker Koon listed five focus areas: promoting regional unity through legislative action, combating smuggling and illicit trade, climate and environmental protection, boosting regional trade, and mainstreaming gender equality.
He particularly emphasized gender inclusion as both a moral obligation and an economic necessity. Leading his signature “he4she” chant, he called for the mainstreaming of gender considerations in all legislative efforts under the MRUPB framework.
Speaker Koon urged MRU national parliaments not to settle for symbolic participation but to commit to full implementation through participation, resource support, and capacity building.
He also acknowledged the critical support of international partners such as ECOWAS, the African Union, the United Nations, and global development agencies.
“Let us rise, together, as one regional voice for peace, development, and dignity. Let us legislate not just for our nations, but for our neighbors. Let this new parliamentary body be a living, breathing institution of action and integrity,” Koon declared.
The MRUPB is expected to hold regular sessions, draft model legislation, and collaborate closely with regional organizations to influence key policy areas affecting Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Côte d’Ivoire.
Sierra Leone’s Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Segepoh Solomon Thomas, delivered a forward-looking address, voicing full support for the new parliamentary body and underscoring the importance of institutionalized collaboration in tackling regional challenges such as youth unemployment, climate change, and economic instability.
“The proposal to establish a Regional Parliament under the MRU framework is both visionary and timely. Our countries have experienced the devastating effects of conflict and economic volatility, but we have also witnessed the resilience of our people. This dual reality of challenge and opportunity demands that we institutionalize collaboration,” he stated.
Speaker Thomas emphasized the functional benefits of the MRUPB, including harmonized legislation, improved democratic accountability, structured citizen representation, youth and gender empowerment, environmental protection, and strengthened advocacy within continental frameworks like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the AU’s Agenda 2063.
“Let this MRU Parliament not be a symbolic chamber,” he urged, “but a living body that crafts binding protocols, evaluates compliance, and upholds people-centered governance.”
Speaker Thomas added that for Sierra Leone, the regional parliament would enhance cross-border trade, reduce customs bottlenecks, attract investment, and help consolidate peace in border communities. He pledged Sierra Leone’s full support from ratification to implementation.
Speakers Dr. Dansa Kourouma of Guinea and Adama Bictogo of Côte d’Ivoire, speaking through French-language statements, also pledged their countries’ commitment to the MRUPB and its foundational mission of regional integration, peace, and development.
The event was held under the theme: “Towards a regional parliament for integration, peace and development.”
A Foundational Declaration
The four Speakers issued a joint declaration recalling the original purpose of the MRU’s formation in 1973: to foster sub-regional integration, peace, stability, and socio-economic development. They agreed that achieving these goals requires the active engagement of elected representatives in line with democratic governance principles.
The declaration stressed the importance of institutionalizing parliamentary cooperation to complement the work of MRU Heads of State and called for the formal establishment of the MRUPB as a forward step in integration.
“Guided by the shared vision of peace, democratic governance, and socio-economic integration that drives the Mano River Union,
We call upon the Heads of State of the Mano River Union to champion and support this strategic initiative through high-level political guidance,” the Speakers declared.
The communique added: “This declaration represents our firm and shared commitment to work towards a Mano River Union with an ambitious, representative, and effective framework of exchange, in service of our peoples. It opens a new chapter in the history of our sub-region, grounded in citizen participation, parliamentary solidarity, and the joint construction of our common future.”
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