At the close of the 69th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government at Lungi in the Kaffu Bullom Chiefdom, Port Loko district, the President of the Republic of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, openly thanked President Bio for his magnanimity in paving the way for former President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma to return to Sierra Leone after almost thirty months in exile in Nigeria.
President Mahama said, “I want to thank my brother, President Julius Maada Bio, for his magnanimity in allowing former President Koroma to return to Sierra Leone… This is in the best interest of peace, national cohesion and reconciliation”.
Former President Ernest Bai Koroma returned to Sierra Leone on Sunday, 19th July 2026 to attend the ECOWAS Mid-Year Summit held in Lungi under the leadership of President Julius Maada Bio in his capacity as Chairman, ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.
On 14th July, 2026 the Government of Sierra Leone decided to discontinue all legal proceedings against former President Koroma who was facing a four-count charge of treason.
Meanwhile, President Julius Maada Bio has passed the mantle of leadership of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government to his younger brother President Bassirou Diomaya Faye the President of the Republic of Senegal after serving a mandatory one-year term as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority. President Bio said it had been a profound privilege for him to serve as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority.
President Bio is the first Sierra Leonean Head of State to serve as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority. He is also the first Sierra Leonean Head of State to host and chair the ECOWAS Summit on Sierra Leonean soil since the establishment of the sub-regional block in 1975.
