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Civil Society Organisations in West Africa have called on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to deploy an all-female delegation to persuade the military leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger to return to the regional bloc.
While also stressing the need for the body to engage the African Union in the mediation process, the organisations observed that an all-men delegation has not worked in recent times.
They made the call at a diaspora community engagement hosted by the West Africa Democracy Solidarity Network (WADEMOS) and Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) in Abuja on Thursday.
Network Coordinator, WADEMOS, Paul Osei Kuffour, urged ECOWAS to renegotiate processes aimed at restoring democratic governance, saying misinformation and disinformation fuel mistrust of ECOWAS among West African citizens.
Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso had in January officially communicated their decision to quit ECOWAS after they were sanctioned over military takeovers.
Following the intervention of leaders of thought, including Nigeria’s ex-head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, ECOWAS lifted the sanctions and encouraged the three countries to return.
Senegalese and Togolese counterparts, Bassirou Faye and Faure Gnassingbé, respectively, were appointed to lead ECOWAS’ mediation efforts in the Sahel countries.
Despite ECOWAS’ efforts to engage the countries, they have not responded positively.
Kuffour warned that the exit of the Sahel countries might likely cause further instability and disintegrate the subregion.
He said governments’ inability to address fundamental issues and persistent human rights violations, eroding public trust, is fuelling the democratic reversal.
Kuffour pointed to recent constitutional amendments in Togo and Guinea as examples of how leaders manipulate legal frameworks for personal gain, further deepening the disconnect between elected officials and the people.
He urged the ECOWAS Council of The Wise to also take the front seat towards reintegrating the sister states into the nearly 50-year-old bloc.
Under the chairmanship of Former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, the ECOWAS Council of The Wise was established by the 1999 Protocol Relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Security, making it a key pillar in ECOWAS’ Peace and Security Architecture as a supporting organ to the region’s Mediation and Security Council.
Kuffour said: “Indeed, we met with ECOWAS yesterday. We met with the political affairs division, Peace and Security Division, specifically the democracy and good governance unit of that division, and we had a very frank conversation.
“I think ECOWAS recognizes the need to hold on to the stability of the subregion, and they are putting forward a lot of measures to ensure that the subregion remains intact and unified as it is.
“Some of the recommendations that we put forward in our conversation were to ECOWAS to consider advancing or bringing on board other multilateral actors, like the African Union, and also using or exploring the opportunity that we have around the Council of The Wise to complement what they are doing in terms of mediating the intended exit of the countries.
“Recently, the United Nations, led by one of its commissioners, was in the Sahel region to have a conversation with the head of the junta. And I think these complementary interventions are quite significant, but they need to be coordinated.”
He warned of serious economic challenges for West African citizens living outside their home countries, saying they may not be able to enjoy the benefits of free movement of goods and services within the ECOWAS region.
He added: “What is happening in the Sahel is really having some kind of effects on the coastal part of West Africa. So any response to the security situation has to be coordinated, and it can only be coordinated when we have one unified bloc like ECOWAS, where all the members sit at the same table, dialogue, and come up with a strategy and work around it.”
President of the Women in Politics Forum (WIPF), Ebere Ifendu, asked ECOWAS leaders to take bold decisions to address the region’s crises, rather than waiting for situations to escalate.
Ifendu, who warned that any instability in Nigeria would overwhelm neighbouring countries, called for an all-female delegation to dialogue with the military leaders in the affected countries.
“If there is a crisis in Nigeria and we decide to move out to another country, that country will collapse. Why should there be a crisis before we begin to stress the need for good governance? ECOWAS is not doing enough. We had a protest here and some of the issues have not been addressed. When will ECOWAS call our leaders out?
“There is a lot of mediation, and they don’t even go with women. ECOWAS at this time should bring back all the men they have sent to discuss with military leaders. Can we have a delegation of only women? We have to let them know that we are at risk. ECOWAS should give women an opportunity to determine the kind of peace and solutions we want,” she said.
Co-chair of the WADEMOS steering committee, Aliou Barry, stressed the organisation’s commitment to combating democratic backsliding in the subregion, saying the three countries exiting ECOWAS contribute around 10 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the subregion.
“We are trying to find solutions that are not politically motivated. Sometimes we don’t speak loudly. We are just trying to negotiate. We have had the chance to meet ECOWAS to raise some concerns and bring some recommendations about how we can mitigate the problems in the subregion,” he said.
Emmanuel Yeboah, a guest speaker at the WADEMOS event, said the negative consequences of bad governance have led to military takeovers in four out of the fifteen ECOWAS member states.
He noted that the sanctions imposed on these states following their exit have compromised regional security and hindered free trade.
President of I’UREM-CEDAO in Côte d’Ivoire, Sekur Kaba, urged diaspora associations to unite to reintegrate the Sahel countries into ECOWAS.
He warned that enforcing ECOWAS laws against citizens from the Sahel countries could have severe repercussions, particularly considering the current hardships faced under the sanctions.
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