{Sierra Leone’s First Lady Sia Nyama Koroma has declined her election as president of the African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLMP).}
A statement issued by the office of the First Lady in Freetown cited the “huge post-Ebola” recovery effort and other national considerations which needed much of her attention.
“…The First Lady, in due consultation with diverse stakeholders, has respectfully declined the position of the President of AFLMP and has duly notified the secretariat of her decision,” the statement reads, coming over a week since she was elected.
Mrs Koroma was named new president of the flagship association of the spouses of continent’s leaders at an emergency meeting on May 15 in Abuja, Nigeria.
Mrs Patient Jonathan, the wife of outgoing Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, is said to have recommended Mrs Koroma who did not attend the meeting.
Sources said Mrs Jonathan hastily convened the meeting to prevent her successor as First Lady, Isha Buhari, from assuming the AFLPM presidency.
The two are said to be involved in a bitter rivalry.
National issues
Isha’s husband Gen (Rtd) Mohammadu Buhari, is due to be sworn in Friday as Nigeria’s new president.
According to reports, people closed to Mrs Buhari’s camp made a failed court bid to prevent the May15 AFLPM meeting.
In Freetown, the Sierra Leonean First Lady learnt of her election from local journalists, days after it was announced.
She was represented at the symbolic handing over ceremony by an unlikely person, the First Lady of the Saharawi Democratic Republic, Prof Khadija Hamdi, whose country is little known in Sierra Leone.
Mrs Koroma was accused by a section of the local media of allowing herself to be used in a foreign political battle.
But the official statement published Thursday made no reference to the Nigerian first ladies’ rivalry or how she was elected; instead, it cited the demands of more pressing national issues.
“The First Lady assures every Sierra Leonean, especially her fellow women and our children, that her first priority remains supporting national Ebola response and subsequent post-Ebola recovery,” the statement read, adding, however, that she remained committed to the ideals of the AFLPM.
{{Africa Review}}
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