ECOWAS Parliament Begins Seminar To Find Lasting Solutions To Coups In The Region
Princess-Ekwi Ajide Abuja
Following incidences of military takeovers in the West African sub-region, the ECOWAS Parliament is charting a course for its members to play their roles to stem the tide of coup detat in the region.
The Parliament is currently holding a high-level parliamentary seminar on the ‘Role of the ECOWAS Parliament Relating to the Challenges of Unconstitutional Regime Change and Presidential Term Limits in West Africa in Winneba, Ghana.
Declaring the seminar open, the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, decried the incessant cases of military takeover in the region saying that democracy in West Africa is in grave danger, and urged all to work harder to entrench the principles of democratic accountability in the citizens.
According to President Akufo-Addo, the region is presently confronted with difficult economic, political, social, and insecurity situations.
He said that, despite the considerable progress made by the community in the areas of democracy, good governance and the rule of law since the 1990s, there is a significant decline in the region’s democratic relations at the moment.
The Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Sidie Tunis, on his part, explained that the ECOWAS Parliament put together the Seminar as part of the parliaments obligations under the Treaty, of its establishment to determine what causes military takeovers, democratic regression, and political instability in the sub-region even in spite of the existence of Community Acts and Protocols intended to consolidate democracy and promote political stability.
According to the Speaker, their responsibility as Legislators is not only to create laws and policies but to also rigorously monitor their implementation, saying that to ensure that ECOWAS performs maximally to the expectation of the people, as parliamentarians, they must facilitate robust and continuous discourse on the broad issues, aimed at formulating effective and sustainable solutions to the numerous challenges confronting the people and humanity in general.
The Head of Ghana Delegation at the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Alexander Afenyo-Markin, had earlier in his welcome address, said that the recent activities of insurgents in the subregion is in no way a justification for military takeovers from democratically elected regimes.
