West Africa’s main regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has given the coup leaders led in Guinea led by Mamady Doumbouya, six months to return the country to democratic rule.
ECOWAS chairman, President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana made this decision known at the sub-regional body’s Extraordinary Summit held in Accra Thursday.
ECOWAS has imposed a travel ban on the military leaders as well as their family members and supporters and also decided to freeze the financial assets of members of the military junta.
The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Jean-Claude Kissie Brou, told the media after the Summit that the decisions of the ECOWAS Authority would be communicated officially to the military rulers today [September 16].
He said ECOWAS is concerned with the seeming political instability in the region and had decided to revisit its protocols on democracy and good governance to address the current situation.
On why the Commission failed to intervene when the political issues began in Guinea, the President of the Commission noted that ECOWAS took steps before, during and after the crisis.
He added that there were several stakeholder engagements that involved the political parties in Guinea when the issues began
He stated further that at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission held virtual meetings with the stakeholders involved, seeking to ensure that the issue did not escalate.
He pointed out, however, that ECOWAS Is made up of sovereign countries that have the right to make their own decisions.
Present at the Summit were the Presidents of Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau and Niger. Nigeria was represented by its Vice President.
The Heads of State discussed a report of a high-level ECOWAS mission sent to Guinea last week following President Conde’s overthrow
The High-Level mission, led by Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway met the military rulers in Guinea, led by Lieutenant Colonel Mamady Doumbouya.