The outgoing chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says the regional body will not relent in its efforts to ensure that all member states are governed by democratically elected governments.
In his opening address at the opening ceremony at the 61st ordinary session of the Authority of ECOWAS heads of state and Government held on 3 July 2022 in Accra, President Akufo-Addo, noted that in spite of the prevailing regional and global challenges that ECOWAS finds itself, every effort will be made to ensure the security of all ECOWAS states.
“As you recall, on 4 June 2022 in our extraordinary summit here in Accra, we discussed extensively, the political and social situation in our region with emphasis on the current political transition in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso emanating from the unfortunate coup d’états in those countries”.
“We decided to re-examine this matter during this ordinary summit. ECOWAS remains committed to accompanying these sister nations to return to normal constitutional democratic order,” President Akufo-Addo said.
“We will have the opportunity to hear from our mediators who will advise us on the latest developments in these countries to enable us to take the appropriate decisions” the president added.
Terrorism / Insecurity
In his address, President Akufo-Addo acknowledged that the West Africa region continues to be a target for barbaric terrorist attacks which have resulted in the loss of many innocent victims and the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the targeted countries.
To this end, President Akufo-Addo called on his colleague heads of state to ensure a coordinated effort to deal with the threat of terrorism in West Africa which he said has now gone beyond the Sahel and is now being carried out in some coastal states in West Africa.
“Phase with this constant terrorist threat, it is imperative for us to continue to implement our regional action plan against terrorism and to coordinate our various security initiatives” Akufo-Addo indicated.
“This will re-enforce our collective response to this de-stabilizing threat. Our determination in this area must be stronger than ever” he added.
End of tenure
President Akufo-Addo registered his appreciation to his colleague for the confidence they reposed in him and the members of the outgoing commission.
He noted that he will continue to play his part in the work of ECOWAS beyond his chairmanship role which effectively ends today.
“This is the end of the tenure of the members of the present commission. On our behalf, let me thank all the statutory appointees for work performed during the last four years in the very difficult environment that I have described.”
“I will at this summit conclude my tenure as chairman of the Authority. It has been a great privilege for Ghana and myself to be given the opportunity by you to serve this noble organization for two consecutive terms, particularly, in one of the most trying periods of its history” President Akufo-Addo said.
“I have benefited tremendously from the solidarity and empathy of your Excellencies in the discharge of this difficult mandate that you conferred on me for which I am very grateful.”
“Needless to say, I will continue to play my full part to the best of my ability in the work of the Authority,” President Akufo-Addo added.
ECOWAS instability
In the last 20 months, there have been four coups in the ECOWAS sub-region alone. On 18 August 2020, the first military takeover occurred in Mali where the second also occurred on the 24 May 2021.
The third unconstitutional takeover of power took place on 5 September 2021, in Guinea and the third unconstitutional power seizure took place on 24 January 2022, in Burkina Faso.
ECOWAS heads of state have in each of the coup d’états, instituted sanctions against the military leaders in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso.
They have also demanded that the military junta in the two countries take immediate steps to restore democratic rule in the affected nations.
The three affected countries have in separate proposals, presented road maps to transition their respective nations back to constitutional rule.
ECOWAS leaders have rejected the transition plans of the three countries which range from two to five years. They have instead, demanded that the three countries take immediate steps to return their states to constitutional rule.
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