In the evening of March 17, 2019, a delegation of the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic (MD CR), headed by the Deputy Minister of Defence,  Tomáš Kopečný, accompanied by two representatives of MD CR. The defense industry was represented by company DEFCON s.r.o., representing Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod a.s. (CZUB)  and Aero Vodochody AEROSPACE a.s. and companies Lom Trade Prague a.s., Sellier & Bellot a.s., Excalibur Army Ltd., SVOS s.r.o. and Excalibur International a.s. Delegates were accompanied by the Commercial Councelor of the Czech Embassy in Ghana, Tomáš Zázvorka and Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic in Burkina Faso Mr.Romaric Sondo.

The program was launched on 18 March 2019 in Monrovia, visiting Deputy Defense Minister of Liberia, Hon.Tibli Olandrus Dickson and Chief of Staff of Liberia's Armed Forces (CDS), Major General Prince C. Johnson III, accompanied by the heads of individual Liberal Forces sections. Deputy Dickson and CDS Johnson thanked for the presentation and informed about building a new army since 2006 after a 15-year civil war.  CDS Johnson also reported on the involvement of Liberian troops in the UN Force Contingent in Mali, arguing that it would like to arm these troops and equip them to the same level as those of other states. Johnson also expressed the demand for armored vehicles and ammunition, as military units are often called to help the police. He also mentioned the need for armaments to fight the Boko Haram terrorists and the urgent need to build Liberia's air forces.

The next item on the delegation agenda was a meeting with Liberian Minister of Justice, Hon.Frank Musah Dean, who is responsible, among other things, for police force. The police representatives were interested in service, spare parts and training for the use of SVOS armored vehicles, as well as the durability and storage conditions of CZUB and Sellier & Bellot ammunition. The Minister thanked for the presentations and said that any demand would be addressed to the Government of Liberia.

In the afternoon, the delegation met the Inspector General of the Liberian National Police, Patrick T. Sudue, and the Chief of protocol of Liberian National Police, Francis Akiti.  Inspector Sudue thanked for the presentations and announced that he would ask the Ministry of Justice to visit the Czech Republic for the purpose of visiting individual companies testing their products. Date of visit - May or June 2019. In this context, Defcon offered the police the opportunity to borrow CZUB products to Liberia for on-site testing.

In the evening, a cocktail at the Mamba Point Hotel was held for Liberia officials from the Ministries of Defense, Justice, Internal Affairs and Foreign Affairs. Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Liberia, responsible for planning and development, Robert K.Fagans, Sr.,, was informed by Councelor Zázvorka about the successful agricultural and infrastructure projects in Ghana and about the initiative of the Czech Embassy in Ghana to organize in the near future to Liberia a mission of Czech entrepreneurs in the field of agriculture, infrastructure and energy. Deputy Fagans welcomed the initiative and promised to support this activity with the President of Liberia.

On March 19, 2019, the work program began with the admission of delegation by the Minister of Internal Affairs of Liberia, Hon. Varney A. Sirleaf, who is an advisor to President concerning the armament of police force, border control, correctional service and immigration police. Minister Sirleaf listened with interest to the presentations of individual delegates and expressed interest in the shooting simulator and the possibility of training the armed forces of Liberia in the training area of LOM Trade Praha. He was also interested in equipment and technology for border monitoring and vehicles for border patrols.

The programm continued by visiting the company Executive Protection Service, which provides a close protection of VIP, president included. The delegation was received by Deputy Director Henry Wolo, Chief of Operations Seward Briggs and Special Advisor William Osel. Deputy director Wolo thanked for the presentations and announced that they would study the materials and eventually contact companies.

In the afternoon, Deputy Kopečný and Counselor Zázvorka met with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liberia (MFA LB), Marie K.Coleman, who was accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister LB for International Economic Cooperation and Integration, Abraham K.Korvah Sr. and Head of the European Affairs Office at the MFA LB, F.Momulu Dorley. Deputy Coleman praised the mission of Czech entrepreneurs and their interest in helping to build a new army, in monitoring borders and in arming the UN forces contingent.

After moving from Liberia to Freetown in Sierra Leone (SL) on March 20, 2019, the delegation launched its program on March 21, 2019 with a visit by the Deputy Defense Minister Colonel Simeon N. Sheriff. The meeting was also attended by Deputy CDS, General Major David Tamba Ocil Taluva and other representatives of the Armed Forces of SL. Deputy Sheriff welcomed the Czech delegation, thanked for the visit, briefed on the state of the armed forces in SL and mentioned interest in helping to equip the peacekeeping corps as well as cooperation in the army's agricultural sector.  Subsequent presentation of Czech companies met with great acclaim and queries for armored vehicles for border patrols, for the lifetime of ammunition, pistols and submachine gun stress tests, etc. Defcon offered to lend several pieces of CZUB weapons to SL for testing.

The next meeting was with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration SL, Charles Owiredu. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the diplomatic protocol headed by Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Al-Hassan Kharamoh Kondeh. Deputy Oviredu thanked Director Kopecny for organizing the mission to SL and appreciated the efforts of Czech companies to cooperate with SL in strengthening the country's defense and border protection, but emphasized other government priorities such as agriculture, health and education. 

In the afternoon, the delegation moved to a meeting with Minister of Internal Affairs SL, Edward A. Soloku. The meeting was also attended by representatives of various sections of the Ministry of the Internal Affairs, headed by Richard Moigbe, General Police Inspector of SL.  The presentations of Czech companies raised the most questions for the Excalibur Army and SVOS armored vehicles for the police and the armed patrol of the African Union. Minister Soloku promised to organize a meeting of selected Cabinet members to take further steps in this matter.

The afternoon program was accomplished by talks with Deputy Finance Minister Patricia N. Laverley. Deputy Laverley mentioned one urgent requirement - the delivery of a transport helicopter operating as a standard transport service. Representatives of Defcon and LomTrade Prague promised to start immediate negotiations to find a suitable Mi-25 helicopter.

On March 22, 2019, the delegation was invited to a meeting with Vicepresident of SL, Hon.Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh.  The Vice President thanked for his visit, appreciated the initiative of the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic in organizing this mission and welcomed the offer of Czech companies for cooperation.

Given the great attention paid to the delegation in both countries, given the adoption of a high-level delegation and taking into account the specific product and service requirements, this PROPED can be considered as a success. Thanks to several times mentioned interest in cooperation in agriculture, infrastructure and energy, the Czech Embassy in Accra will start discussing the possibility of organizing a business mission to Liberia and Sierra Leone focused on these areas. 

Tomáš Zázvorka, Commercial Counselor, Embassy of the Czech Republic in Accra