3 months ago
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The Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States’ Parliament (ECOWAS Parliament), Memounatou Ibrahima, has raised the alarm over the impacts of global inflation, recession and insecurity on ECOWAS institutions’ funding.
Worried that the financial difficulties currently experienced threaten the execution and realisation of community projects and programs, the Speaker called on ECOWAS member states to scale up their funding to enable the regional body to meet its multifaceted challenges.
Ibrahima, while declaring the meeting of the Parliament’s Joint Committee on Administration, Budget, Finance, Public Account, Macroeconomic Policy, and Economic Research open yesterday in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, said that the limited financial resources were insufficient for the important financing needs of the community.
“As you know, the Community’s budget is supplied at 85 percent by its levy, which is a 0.5 percent tax imposed on goods from countries that are not members.
“Unfortunately, the last report on the state of the community presented by the President of the ECOWAS Commission revealed a weak mobilisation of its resources in recent years,” the Speaker said.
Ibrahima further reminded participants that the meeting represented not only an opportunity for collaboration but also a moment of reflection on the strategies that member states must adopt in response to the numerous challenges confronting the region.
She held that the meeting must address the role of the ECOWAS Parliament in the community’s budgetary process, especially against the backdrop of current challenges and realities.
“The goal is to give lawmakers better insight into the challenges relating to the budget examination of the community in order to strengthen and consolidate the collaboration between the ECOWAS Parliament and other community institutions.
“I am convinced that our discussions on the role of the ECOWAS Parliament in the elaboration and follow-up of the budget of the community will generate relevant analyses and solid recommendations to accelerate our resolution towards a community of fully integrated people.”
Ibrahima added that Ivory Coast was the highest-performing ECOWAS member country based on commercial integration, productive integration, and macroeconomic integration.
Earlier, the Vice President of the Ivorian National Assembly, Diawara Mamadou, called for constituents to have knowledge about the parliament’s actions regarding budgetary matters.
Since the Parliament is responsible for preparing and overseeing the execution of budgets, he felt that it was fundamental for the people to understand how the Community Parliament examines and controls its budget.
“The general debate provides a platform for sharing experiences and developing proposals, as well as enables participants to enhance their capabilities and propose improvements to the existing mechanisms.
“I am therefore pleased that this meeting in Abidjan addresses such an important subject as the budget,” he said.
Also speaking, the Ivorian Minister of Economic Planning and Development, Niali Kaba, who represented the Minister of Foreign Affairs and African Integration, Wautabouna Ouatarra, said the adoption of the ECOWAS budget marked a decisive turning point in the Community’s annual life.
The chairman of the joint committee and Deputy Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, assured that the parliament would see to the judicious and transparent utilisation of funds meant for the regional institution.
Kalu believed that such oversight could only be achieved through meaningful engagements with critical stakeholders such as the ECOWAS Commission and the Administration and Finance Committee.
“The Parliament has a critical duty to ensure that public resources are utilised responsibly and for their intended purposes by the executives. As representatives of the people of the region, we must champion the promotion and practice of transparency and accountability.
“In other words, oversight is an indispensable parliamentary tool that should be effectively deployed to secure the accountability of the executive to the parliament and the citizens in general,” he said.
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