The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has strongly condemned the coup d’états in Burkina Faso and demanded the immediate restoration of constitutional order by the military in that country.
The ECOWAS has also demanded the immediate release and protection of President Roch Marc Christian Kabore and all the other political detainees.
Mutinous soldiers on Monday, 24th January ousted President Kabore from power and announced on state television after a 36-hour uprising that toppled the government.
The former French colony, Burkina Faso had suffered constant instability, mostly military coup d’états since it gained independence in 1960.
In a Communique issued Friday, 28th January, after a virtually held Extraordinary ECOWAS Summit in Accra, Ghana, the Authority announced the suspension of Burkina Faso from all the bloc’s Institutions.
The region’s bloc reaffirmed its commitment to uphold the zero tolerance for acceding power through unconstitutional means as enshrined in the 2001 ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good governance.
The Authority, according to the Communique, had “instructed the Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff (CCDS) to forthwith deploy a delegation to Burkina Faso to hold consultations with the military leaders to carry out an assessment of the security situation in the country and submit a report to be reviewed by the Authority of Heads of State and Government.”
It further instructed the Commission to facilitate the deployment of a joint ECOWAS Ministerial Mission to Burkina Faso on 31st January, 2022 to assess the political situation and submit a report to the Authority of Heads of State and Government.
The Heads of State and Government in the statement expressed concern over the resurgence of military coups in the region “following the coup d’états in Mali on 18 August 2020, in Guinea on 5 September 2021 and in Burkina Faso on 24 January 2022.
The Authority was also briefed on the recent developments on the political situations in Mali and Guinea, and requested the Commission to finalise the on-going revision of the Protocol on Democracy and good governance.
The Authority decided to convene an Extraordinary Summit on 3rd February, 2022 in Accra, Ghana to re-examine the situation in Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali.
The Heads of State and Government commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who is ECOWAS Chairperson, for his leadership in ensuring the success of the Summit.
Present at the Summit were President Patrice Talon of Benin; President Jose Maria Neves of Cabo Verde; President Alassane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire; President Adama Barrow of The Gambia; President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana; and President Umaro Sissoco Embalo of Guinea Bissau.
Others include President George Manneh Weah of Liberia; President Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria; President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger; President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone; President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe of Togo; and Sidiki Kaba, Minister of Armed Forces of Senegal.
The Session was also attended by Moussa Faki, Chairperson of the African Union Commission; Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, President of the ECOWAS Commission; Mahamat Saleh Annadif, Special Representative of the United
Nations Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS); and Abdoulaye Diop, President of West African Economic and Monetary.
Rex Mainoo Yeboah, ISD
