{"id":44960,"date":"2026-09-08T15:49:47","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T13:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=44960"},"modified":"2026-09-08T15:49:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T13:49:47","slug":"ecowas-commends-sierra-leone-for-facilitating-return-of-former-president","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/ecowas-commends-sierra-leone-for-facilitating-return-of-former-president\/","title":{"rendered":"ECOWAS commends Sierra Leone for facilitating return of former President"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission has commended the Government of Sierra Leone and President Julius Maada Bio for facilitating the return of former President Ernest Bai Koroma to the country.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The development follows the Sierra Leonean government&#8217;s decision to formally discontinue legal charges against the former head of state, citing national reconciliation, unity, and the preservation of lasting peace.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In a press statement, the regional bloc extended appreciation to West African leaders, specifically Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for hosting Koroma during his period abroad and ensuring his safe return to Freetown.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>ECOWAS reaffirmed its commitment to supporting Sierra Leone&#8217;s democratic governance, stability, and sustainable development.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica\/ECOWAS&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":44961,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-44960","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"ECOWAS commends Sierra Leone over Koroma return","published_date":"2026-09-08 15:48:07","news_description":"ECOWAS commends Sierra Leone over Koroma return","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44962,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/44960\/revisions\/44962"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=44960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}