The Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has reiterated its strong condemnation of the coup d’Etat of 24 January 2022 in Burkina Faso and resolved to uphold the suspension of Burkina Faso from all ECOWAS institutions until constitutional order is restored.
The communique issued in Accra, Ghana on Saturday after its Extraordinary Session, demanded the finalisation of an acceptable transition timetable.
It noted the correspondence of 31 May 2022, from the Transition Authorities stating their willingness and commitment to continue dialogue with ECOWAS to ensure a return to constitutional order as soon as possible and resolved in line with this commitment, to continue the discussions with the authorities on the transition with a view to reaching an agreement.
On the security front, the Authority noted the efforts made by Burkina Faso, despite its numerous challenges, in recovering some localities, thus leading to the return of some of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and the reopening of some schools and urged the Transition Authorities to sustain the momentum towards further enhancing security in the country.
According to the communique, the Authority resolved to examine the situation in Burkina Faso at its next Ordinary Summit on July 3, 2022 and decided to appoint H.E. Mahamadou ISSOUFOU, former President of the Republic of Niger, as ECOWAS Mediator for Burkina Faso, to facilitate dialogue among all stakeholders.
On the situation in Guinea, the Authority expressed serious concern over the deteriorating sociopolitical situation notably due to the lack of an appropriate dialogue framework between the government and the political stakeholders and civil society actors.
The Authority was also concerned about the length of the 36-month transition period announced by the transition authorities and demanded the finalisation of an acceptable transition timetable.
The Authority urged the government to establish an appropriate framework for dialogue with political and civil society stakeholders in order to ease the socio-political tension and ensure a peaceful transition.
It recommended the continuation of the discussions on these two items and confirmed the designation of H.E. Mohamed Ibn CHAMBAS as ECOWAS Mediator in Guinea and called on the government to respect the human rights of all Guinean citizens and to desist from any arbitrary act that undermine the rule of law in Guinea.
On Mali, the Authority commended the efforts made by the ECOWAS Mediator with a view to reaching an acceptable timetable to ensure a quick return to constitutional order, in accordance with the ECOWAS and African Union protocols and decisions.
The Authority resolved to ask the Mediator to Mali to continue his efforts and to finalise the discussions with the Transition Authorities.
“Accordingly, the Authority decides to uphold the sanctions imposed on 9th January 2022; continue the dialogue with a view to reaching an agreement to ensure a gradual lifting of the sanctions as benchmarks of the transition are met, call on partners to increase their humanitarian support to Mali,” the communique said, adding that the Authority would examine the situation in Mali at its next Ordinary Summit on July 3, 2022.
On the Stabilisation Support Mission in Guinea Bissau (MASGB) and on the Financial Situation of the Stabilisation Missions, the Authority noted the Commission’s report on the deployment of the Mission in Guinea-Bissau, with a view to ensuring the stability of the country.
It also expressed gratitude to the troop contributing countries (TCC) for their support and noted the financial situation of the Stabilisation Missions.
The Extraordinary Summit, which was convened to review the recent political developments in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso, since the last Extraordinary Summit held on 25th March 2022 in Accra also considered the report presented by Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on the situation in Mali and the reports of the ECOWAS Assessment Mission to Burkina Faso and on the situation in Guinea presented by Hon. Albert KAN-DAPAAH, Minister of National Security of the Republic of Ghana, representing H.E. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of the Republic of Ghana, Chair of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers.
The Authority also considered the memorandum presented by the President of the Commission on the deployment of the Support Mission for the Stabilization in Guinea Bissau and on the Financial Situation of the Missions.
GIK/APA