Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in West Africa

Churches In Sierra Leone Express Huge Disappointment At Government Failure To Uphold The Principles Of Inclusiveness In National Level Consultation On The ECOWAS – EU EPA

Addressing dozens of senior church leaders and members of the media at a press conference in Freetown at the end of a one – day church leaders’ consultative meeting on the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), the President of the Council of Churches in Sierra Leone, Rev. Chief Gbokowai D. M. Speck and President of the West African Methodist Church in Sierra Leone,

Brussels 03/04/2014: At the margins of the EU-Africa Partnership Summit of Heads of States and Governments, held from  2nd  – 3rd April in Brussels, West African Church leaders  called on delegates to formulate policies that deliver values of democracy, respect for human rights, good government as well as the right to development.

Lomé, 04.03.14 - Anti EPAs Lead Campaigner, The Rev. Dr. Tolbert Thomas Jallah, Jr., and Secretary – General of the Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in West Africa (FECCIWA) expressed great disappointment over the fast track conclusion of signing and the secrecy of the agreed text of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union (EU) in late January 2014.

In a meeting held yesterday with EU Ambassador to Togo, H. E. Nicolas Berlanga–Martinez, Rev. Dr. Jallah reiterated the Churches in West Africa's non compliance position to the weak performance of the ECOWAS Trade Negotiators in reaching a sealed deal with the EU. He called for transparency and fairness in the negotiations through national level consultations with respective national governments, faith and religious leaders, and civil society organizations.

“The ECOWAS–EU EPA is not in the true spirit of partnership”, asserted Rev. Dr. Jallah to the EU Head of Delegation in Togo, “undue pressure was exerted by the EU on the ECOWAS Commission and its member countries with a unilateral, arbitrary and egoistic ultimatum for the signing of the EPAs until October 2014. This is unfair and outside the framework of the Cotonou Agreement!”