Malian President upbeat of Ellen’s leadership

Malian President Ibrahim Boubaca Keita, says he’s happy about the level of leadership demonstrated by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in the fight against the Ebola virus disease, terming it as “exemplary.”

According to an Executive Mansion release, during a one-day visit  here last Saturday, November 1, President Keita said he saw it compelling to pay a solidarity visit to Liberia in return to what President Sirleaf did for his country when she worked for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) African region.

President Keita said, during President Sirleaf’s tenure as UNDP Africa region Director General, the Liberian leader approved a lot of aid funds for his country thereby leading to the development.

“Though we have been talking on the phone since the Ebola outbreak, I would have never felt relieved if I had not personally come to Liberia to see her,” he said.

President Keita said he has seen the progress with his own eyes and will not hesitate to tell the people of Mali that Liberia had made huge gains in the fight against Ebola and soon the virus will be history here.

The Malian President extended thanks and appreciation to the Government and people of Liberia as well as international partners for working together in fighting to contain the Ebola outbreak.

During a joint media stakeout in the hall of the Foreign Ministry, the Malian President used the platform to thank President Sirleaf and the people of Liberia for their political and military intervention that has now brought peace and stability to his country. Liberia currently has a small Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) infantry platoon as part of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali.

Speaking earlier, President Sirleaf thanked her Malian counterpart for remaining engaged with Liberia during its health crisis. “Though you have been on the phone all the time with me on the crisis, you thought it wise to come on the ground to demonstrate your solidarity to us as a country and the Liberian people greatly appreciate you for your solidarity,” the Liberian leader told President Keita.

She attributed the gains made in the Ebola fight to the resilience of the Liberian people and international partners for what she described as “good collaborative efforts”. President Keita is the second Africa leader to pay a solidarity visit to Liberia since the outbreak of the Ebola virus, the first being Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama in September, who is also current chairman of ECOWAS.