The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has pledged to deploy forces to stabilise Guinea Bissau after an attempted coup d’état in that country.
The West African bloc condemned the attempted coup and expressed solidarity with President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and the people of Guinea Bissau.
The ECOWAS Authority, in its second Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Accra, Ghana, on Thursday, assured that it would further maintain the military and police components of the ECOWAS Mission in The Gambia (ECOMIG) to consolidate peace in the country.
In a Communique issued at the end of the summit, the Authority affirmed its commitment with the government of Guinea Bissau and to work to protect democracy and freedom in the region.
The Authority, according to the Communique, reiterated its resolute stance to uphold the principle of zero tolerance for ascension to power through unconstitutional means, as enshrined in the 2001 ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good governance.
The Authority was briefed by H.E. Suzi Carla Barbosa, Senior Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and the Diaspora of Guinea Bissau on the circumstances surrounding the attempted coup d’état in Guinea Bissau on February 1, 2022.
On the political situation in Burkina Faso, the region’s bloc took note of the deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in that country and called for a quick return to constitutional order to deal effectively with those issues.
The Authority expressed concern over the continuous detention of President Roch Marc Christian Kabore and demanded his unconditional release.
The Authority further upheld the suspension of Burkina Faso from all ECOWAS Institutions until the restoration of constitutional order and called on the military to establish the transitional institutions and adopt a transition calendar to facilitate the return to constitutional order as soon as possible.
The Authority Instructed the ECOWAS Commission to continue to engage with the new authorities through the establishment of a monitoring mechanism, including the African Union and United Nations, to accompany the Transition process.
The ECOWAS Authority expressed concern over the breach of constitutional order in the region notably with the recent military coup d’états in Mali on 18th August 2020, Guinea on 5th September 2021, Burkina Faso on 24 January 2022, and attempted coup d’état in Guinea Bissau.
The Authority on the political situation in Guinea also took note of the recent establishment of the National Transition Council (CNT), as the legislative body.
It, however, expressed concern over the unavailability of the required transition calendar five months after the military takeover as requested by the Authority in its Extraordinary Session on 16th September 2021.
The Authority consequently, upheld all the sanctions already imposed on Guinea and requested the Transition Authority to provide to ECOWAS an acceptable timetable for restoring constitutional order.
On Mali, the ECOWAS welcomed the conclusions of the 1057th meeting of the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union held on January 14, 2022, endorsing all the ECOWAS decisions and sanctions on Mali.
The Authority, however, expressed regret over the absence of a new timetable in line with the decisions of the Authority. Consequently, it upheld also all the sanctions imposed on Mali in line with its decision of January 9, 2022.
It urged the Malian authorities to urgently propose an acceptable electoral timetable to enable the progressive lifting of the sanctions.
The ECOWAS reaffirmed its readiness to work with the African Union and the United Nations to provide the necessary technical support to the authorities of Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali to implement the approved timetables.
Rex Mainoo Yeboah, ISD
