Category: General

Mr. Abdul Fatoma, Executive Director, Campaign for Human Rights and Development International of Sierra Leone has said that ECOWAS citizens demand more sincerity from the various institutions in managing democracy in the sub-region.

Mr. Fatoma made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Winneba, Ghana, at the high-level meeting of the ECOWAS Parliament.

Mr. Abdul Fatoma who is also the team leader for Election Conflict Prevention and Mediation Group said ECOWAS citizens are gradually losing trust of the institutions, especially in promoting their rights.

This, he said is coming from the loss of democratic rule in Mali and Guinea which is yet to be restored by ECOWAS institutions.

“ECOWAS Citizens want the ECOWAS Institutions, the Community and the Parliament to be sincere to citizens of ECOWAS, and also promote issues that will promote the rights of all ECOWAS Citizens during elections, after elections and for us to continue having a stable region”, he said.

According to him, ECOWAS has been inconsistent in promoting and managing democracy in the sub-region, the insincerity from the institutions has created discontent between the citizens and the ECOWAS institutions. “It is only now that ECOWAS is getting more closer to its citizens through the ECOWAS Parliament, and if we are getting out this closer, I think it is our obligation to continue urging the ECOWAS institutions to be sincere with themselves and look at the issues that are going on within the sub-region that are not really good for the ECOWAS citizens and the region at large,” Fatoma said.

In addition, he urged Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Member States to be very much involved in electoral processes pre-election, during election and post-election work to ensure credible and violence-free elections in their counties.

Mr. Fatoma said his coalition have been working with the Sierra Leone Electoral Commission to see how best to minimize violence during elections.

“We have done 14 bye-elections, no major incidences of violence have been reported, the results have not been contested or neither a petition or discredited, out of that, the opposition have won five against the ruling parties, the ruling parties have won others also, and the opposition have accepted those wins as a fair deal”.

Again, because of our earlier involvement before the elections, during the elections and after the elections. This is a model that was introduced late last year November by the new Electoral Commissioner in Sierra Leone.

To see how best he will be able to use such strategies to minimize violence in our country’s body elections, and gradually he has been successful doing that,” Fatoma said.

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Minister of Sierra Leone’s New Western Region, Madam Nabeela Tunis has called on her counter Ministers in the Greater Accra and Central Region of Ghana, Henry Quartey and Justina Marigold Assan respectively.

According to the former Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister of Sierra Leone, the visit is to establish a firm relationship with her Ghanaian counterparts to enable them establish a smooth flow of exchanges.
Her first visit was to the Greater Accra to meet with Henry Quartey where they had productive discussions and shared experiences.

Mr. Quartey on his part pointed out the need to focus on collaborating with the local authorities in their respective regions and further pointed out his preparedness to collaborate with her counterpart.

Mrs. Nabeela Tunis noted that she is at an advantageous position because she would learn from mistakes and take into account new ideas, and added that the system in Sierra Leone is different from that of Ghana.

“One thing that is good in our own situation is that we have been given the liberty to build the ministry from scratch, so some of the challenges that they have been faced with will be dealt with from the get go”, she noted.

Madam Tunis also pointed out that she and her team has put all the necessary structures in place, carefully crafting a system that would lean on existing expertise. She reported that her outfit would liaise with officers designated within the various MDAs to avoid duplication.

She also disclosed that more focus will be placed on facilitation, collaboration, monitoring and evaluation of government programs rather than implementation.
Additionally, they would be looking forward to developing a regional plan with the people next year; a regional plan that will not only incorporate their inputs but also reflect the medium term national development plan.

Meanwhile, on her visit to the Central Regional Coordinating Council and Minister to the Central Region, Justina Marigold Assan, Minister Tunis reemphasized the importance of ensuring coordination with all stakeholders including the district heads, tribal and village authorities, elected officials, civil society, and the people to ensure ownership for development strides. She also noted that development is for the people and the only way they could take ownership is to get involved themselves.

“The Regional Ministry is a new phenomenon to Sierra Leone and I strongly believe in coordinating with all and sundry to achieve the ultimate goal of inclusive governance” Minister Tunis highlighted.

She used the opportunity to call for stronger partnerships across all spheres to achieve development for all, and noted that her outfit would support, complement and direct development for the people.

Ending her visits, the Central Regional Minister, Justina Marigold Assin applauded Minister Tunis for her wealth of knowledge in the new mandate given to her, urging her to ensure partnership with donor partners and local authorities. She assured her of a continuous relationship between the two institutions and extended an invitation to her for a visit and tour of her region.

The visit was climaxed with decoration and presentation of gifts to Minister Tunis, the former Planning and Economic Development Minister for leaving an indelible foot print as a hard-working person, hence her appointment by President Maada Bio as Minister for a New Western Region.

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Dr Sidie Tunis, Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) parliament has encouraged community citizens to take the COVID-19 vaccines and shun all forms of conspiracy theories as vaccines are very safe.

Dr. Tunis made the call on Monday in Winneba, Ghana at the opening of the Second Extraordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament to consider and adopt the Parliament’s Draft Budget for the year 2022.

He said that the call for the citizens to get vaccinated is important as cases continue to surge across the sub-region.

“As it stands, the third wave of the pandemic seems to be stabilizing across our states, but cases are still high with the West African Health Organization (WAHO) reporting a total of 649,077 cases across the region as of Oct. 14, 2021.”

“On the vaccine front, more doses are getting into arms daily, and we seize this moment to appreciate our partners under the COVAX initiative and friendly Governments that have donated doses to African countries.”

He, however, noted that the percentage of African population fully vaccinated, which is a little over 2.47%, according to the Africa Center for Disease Control, is appallingly low, compared to those unvaccinated.

“Much as the unavailability of the vaccine is an issue to consider, we also frown at the conspiracy theories that have created fear of the vaccines in our population.”

“I therefore, wish to use this podium, as I have always done, to send a clear message to our citizens that the vaccines are safe and should be taken once they are available,” Tunis said.

The community parliament, he noted has continued to examine the COVID-19 pandemic more closely and is very concerned about the region falling deeper into recession as a result of the pandemic.
This, he added, will ultimately erase the progress we have made over the past two decades.

Hon. Alban Bagbin, Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament urged Members of Parliament to recommend programmes that will alleviate the sufferings of the citizens, especially as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic while considering the budget.

Babgin who was represented by Hon. Joesph Osei-Owsu said that the recommendations will largely influence the budgetary implementation for the proposed programmes and activities of the institution.

“I wish to emphasise that your programmes should alleviate the sufferings of the citizens and reduce their burdens in these trying times, especially those adversely impacted by the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We must continue to address poverty in all its ramifications and create job opportunities for the people,” Mr. Babgin said.

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Mr. Johnson Kwaku Adu, a member of Ghana’s delegation on the Health Committee of the Community Parliament is unhappy that the committee has not met to have any discussion in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic still affecting the West African sub-region.

According to him the Committee has to be proactive; “I think the chairman of our committee is not doing us any good, we have to meet and have discussions before we leave the Extraordinary Session, and we need to create a platform to talk about issues”.

He noted that since the coronavirus pandemic is still around, as a committee there should be some discussions, and interacting with the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) on the way forward. “COVID is still with us we should be having discussions on measures and strategies we need to adopt as a sub-region to combat it”. Again, the “committee should meet before we leave the Extraordinary Session”.

As to whether language barrier can partly be blamed because the chairman of the committee is from Cape Verde, a Portuguese speaking country? He said, “it is also part of the problem, but I do not think it should be a problem because we have interpreters around to help us have a conversation, same way we can have a WhatsApp platform to have this conversation”.

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The Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is organising a high-level parliamentary seminar on 20 years of democratic elections in West Africa in Ghana’s coastal city of Winneba from October 13 to 15, 2021.

The theme of the event is: “Evaluating Two Decades of Democratic Elections In The ECOWAS Region: Achievements, Challenges And The Way Forward”.

The President of Ghana and current Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo is expected to attend this important meeting where he will deliver the opening address.

The objective of the seminar is to assess the electoral systems in the ECOWAS Member States to identify the challenges and proffer solutions to the shortcomings in the organization of elections.

After several decades of democratic system practice based on elections and multiparty politics, the issue of level of consolidation of democracy has remained unanswered, given the political and institutional instability, observed in many countries of the region.

It is within this context that the ECOWAS Parliament, a platform of dialogue, consultation, and promotion of democracy in ECOWAS Member States, is organising this high-level seminar.

Academics, experts in political science and electoral systems, as well as media professionals will animate the various panels, which will be moderated by Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, former President of the ECOWAS Commission.

The seminar will be followed by the 2021 Second Extraordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament, from 18 to 22 October 2021, also in Winneba.

The session will be mainly focused on the consideration and adoption of the draft of the 2022 budget of the Community Parliament.

The ECOWAS Parliament is composed of 115 seats. As for attribution of seats, each Member State is guaranteed a minimum of five seats. The remaining forty seats were shared in proportion to the population of each country. Based on this distribution, Nigeria has 35 seats, Ghana 8, Cote d’Ivoire 7, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Senegal have 6 seats each. The other countries, namely Benin, Cape Verde, the Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Togo all have 5 seats each.

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For Mr. Jonathan L. Kaipay, a member of the Liberian delegation to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, electing lawmakers to the parliament would give it more weight.

According to him it would further give the parliament more opportunity and strengthen its oversight responsibility and independency.

“I think it is something that we need to strive for and at the end of the day it is something that the Speaker want to achieve, and it is something that we would want to see happening and would make the legislative arm of the ECOWAS Parliament more independent”.

Again, with that, the Parliament can look at the budget, carry out debate on it, and look at reforms. Example the parliament can site for three months, probe into issues and find answers to questions; “as it is now, how many actions can we take, we should get the citizens involve in electing their leaders”.

Mr. Jonathan L. Kaipay noted that it is achievable, when in an interview Ghanamps.com wanted to know if its achievable and further added that, it can happen when there is the political will, “as President Nana Akufo-Addo affirms same and other presidents do so we would get there soon”.

In addition, they as Heads of States should join this crusade if we have legislature elected by the people; “they can call each finance minister of member states and inquire why they have not paid their community levy”.

And said, where as in their various national parliaments for a lawmaker to call a finance minister to give answers to financial issues would depend on which of the political divide you belong to.

Mr. Kaipay said he supports the integration process and working towards a full regional integration pointing out that in the case of Liberia after facing the citizens in their country to elect them, they are subjected to election among themselves to get them to the Community Parliament.

And added that in other parliaments MPs to ECOWAS Parliament are selected by the president, “in Liberia we are not a rubber stamp Parliament, it is not the president who determines who comes to ECOWAS Parliament”.

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Professor Attahiru Jega, Former Chairman, Independent National Election Commission (INEC), Nigeria has noted that an overhaul of the electoral system in ECOWAS Member States is critical in achieving credible, free and fair elections in the sub-region.

Profession Jega made this known during a Technical Session at the ongoing High-level Parliamentary Seminar of the ECOWAS Parliament on Thursday, October 14, 2021 in Winneba, Ghana.

According to him, independence, relative autonomy, integrity of the electoral body with a good legal framework will bring the desired reforms in the electoral process of ECOWAS countries for good governance.

Professor Jega said that achieving credible elections also requires the collaboration of all stakeholders, adding that the electoral body alone cannot succeed in delivering credible elections if other sectors are compromised.

“When we examine the conduct of elections in the last two decades in ECOWAS Member States, we can see some progress that has been made, but obviously there are lots of challenges which remain.

To address these challenges, we need to pay attention to bringing about substantial and substantive reforms of the electoral processes and electoral systems which we use in the West African Sub-region.

Most specifically we need to pay attention fast to the integrity of the election management body itself. This is key because whatever lacks integrity is unlikely to bring outcomes to integrity.

We need to ensure that there is a robust legal framework which also have integrity as a framework for the preparations and conducts of elections, and I think quite often the legal framework to which electoral bodies conduct elections leaves much to be desired.

It is very important that attention has to be paid in the appointment of election management body to not only personal integrity but competence and impartiality, if not neutrality.

These very important values can help not only establish an effective and efficient and component body but can also withstand negative pressures either from incumbent regimes, or from political parties, or even from candidates. Because regrettably, most of our political parties, both incumbent governments and candidates want to win elections either by hook or by crook.

And if you have a weak election management body or an election body that can be politically factious, then there will be challenges of achieving at the core objectives of elections as it relates to democracy and governance,” Professor Jega said.

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A member of the Liberian delegation to the Community Parliament, Massaquol Clarence Kortu Momolu said gradually ECOWAS as an institution is becoming a “toothless bulldog”, and it is very unfortunate, by some of its actions and inactions.

According to him the West African sub- region needs to go beyond its resolutions. “Our people are tired of resolutions, I am sure they want to see practical actions”.

In an interview with Ghanamps.com as to whether his comments relate to the Community Parliament, he noted that ECOWAS as a unit and in specific case is the Commission, the body that implements decisions that are derived from the institution’s discussions from Parliament.

“Some of the democratic missteps that we have now are happening before the very eyes of the Commission; I made mention of Guinea, Benin, Togo and others, it is a long list ECOWAS should go back to the 90s”.

He further added that when one follows the war situation in Liberia, they were on daily basis listening to ECOWAS would say and follow its dictates in the conflict situation and ECOWAS needs to go beyond, its friendship because one life lost is a loss to the region.

“We watch an illegal constitutional change in Guinea and gave them the opportunity to do it, now it has resulted in military coup”.

And further pointed out that lives were lost under the very eyes of the Commissioner for Peace and Security of ECOWAS; “I do not know how inhuman we can be, I believe we need to use the meetings of ECOWAS Parliament as a sub-region to reflect even the monies that we are using for these meeting is generated from the citizens”.

And they do not have the opportunity to be in their meetings, they the MPs do that on their behalf and draw resolutions that is not going to be acted on, and added that he hopes they can double up to resuscitate their energy and dream of themselves as Africans.

As a parliament, he emphasized that when country reports are presented at the plenary and action points are made, he wants to encourage the speaker when they leave plenary at Abuja the parliament should not stop there, people should be in different countries to do follow ups otherwise, “we are only about having meetings”, he lamented.

He made those remarks on Wednesday, October 13, 2021 during an ECOWAS Parliament seminar panel discussion, on the theme, “consolidation of democracy and good governance in ECOWAS”.

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Dr. Ibn Chambas has said the Sierra Leon President is probably, better placed and the right person to deal with the Guinea military leader and explain to the junta, on the need to rapidly return the country to democratic constitutional rule.

This follows misgivings expressed by members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, as to why President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, H. E.  Julius Maada Bio visited the military president of Guinea in the wake of the coup while serving a suspension by the sub-regional block.

The Community is holding a seminar in Winneba, Ghana on the theme, “two decades of democratic elections in ECOWAS member states: Achievement challenges and the way forward”.

He recounted that, when the President of Sierra Leone then took over as a military Head of State in the process of returning constitutional rule, that was when his colleague who was then president wanted to stay on when they had decided they should leave, “he wanted to form a party and convert himself into a civilian rule”.

“That was when he staged what was called palace coup and in three months left by completing the transition and handed over. I think he has a message to be able to go and say my brothers, please it can be done, I did it in three months. So, if ECOWAS is giving you six months do not consider that too short, even if they do, he can urge them to make it as short and as quickly as possible to return the country to constitutional rule”.

Dr. Chambas made this point on Wednesday, October 13, 2021 when he moderated a panel discussion on, “consolidation of democracy and good governance in the ECOWAS region” and the issue of the visit came up strongly in the discussion.

The former President of the ECOWAS Commission who received commendation for his role played during his time in reforming the sub-regional body, noted that he wanted to make a clarification on the matter of the visit.

“We would see more engagement, in my days back with ECOWAS, Niger was engaged constructively despite the fact that they were suspended, we engage very constructively with the military to ensure a rapid return to constitutional rule so that is the only thing I would like to respond to”.

And emphasized that Mali and Guinea, ECOWAS would continue to work with them for the restoration of constitutional and democratic rule, and there would be contact to the two countries from the Commission and even, “if it is from the Community Parliament, neighbouring heads of states, it is in that contest that we should understand the visit”.

In a statement on Monday, October 11, 2021 the media and communication unit of the state House of Sierra Leone noted that the president was in Guinea on the invitation of the military Head of State of the Republic of Guinea, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya for a one-day working visit to discuss security cooperation between the two countries and restoration of constitutional order and ECOWAS democratic transition roadmap.

It should be noted that although the Republic of Guinea has been suspended by ECOWAS from Community activities, member states are not prevented from engaging the Republic of Guinea on bilateral issues.

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The Community Parliament has appointed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana to champion its drive to achieve direct election of members into the parliament.

The Speaker of the Parliament, Rt. Hon Dr. Sidie Mohammed Tunis made the announcement during his opening address at the high-level parliamentary seminar on 20 years of democratic elections in West Africa in Ghana’s coastal city of Winneba on the theme: “Evaluating Two Decades of Democratic Elections in The ECOWAS Region: Achievements, Challenges and The Way Forward.”

Dr. Tunis said one of the cardinal objectives of the current legislature is to achieve the election of members into the ECOWAS Parliament by direct universal suffrage.

He noted that despite restrictions and difficulties associated with executing normal activities, occasioned by the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Parliament was able to kick start the process last year.

Article 18 of the Supplementary Act provides that Representatives shall be elected by direct universal suffrage by the citizens of Member States. It also provides a transitional period at which time the National Assemblies of Member States or their equivalent institutions or organs, shall elect such representatives.

“As a result of our firm commitment to this cause, we have had the greatest honour to appoint His Excellency Mahamadou Issoufou, former President of the Republic of Niger and former Chair of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State as the Chief Advocate for the roadmap to direct elections of Members to the ECOWAS Parliament.

We have also appointed His Excellency Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, former President of the ECOWAS Commission and former Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Office for West Africa, as Assistant Chief Advocate.

I have the most distinguished honour to request that Your Excellency, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo kindly accept to serve as the Champion for the attainment of direct election of Members to the ECOWAS Parliament.

“This request is predicated upon the firm support we have been receiving from Your Excellency and we sincerely anticipate that you will again graciously honor our request”.

He noted that, they are convinced that they are on the right track. And also believe that with the advocacy coming from His Excellency Issoufou Mahamadou and His Excellency Dr. Ibn Chambas combined with Your Excellency as the champion, “our objectives are as good as achieved.”

The parliament had earlier set up an ad hoc committee to propose mechanisms to make the election of its members effective by direct universal suffrage.

On Monday, January 18, 2021, the Parliament adopted the report of this committee during its 2020 Second Ordinary Session which was held via videoconference from 13 to 19 January, 2021.

In its report, the ad hoc committee recalls the fundamental principles of elections which must be free, transparent and fair. Aware of the fact that all the texts of the Parliament advocate the election of the Community Members of Parliament by direct universal suffrage, the committee recommends ending the dual mandate of Members in the ECOWAS Parliament and guaranteeing the representativeness of the Community Parliament.

The committee is proposing two voting methods for this. Community elections could be organized as is the case in the European Union; each member state electing Community Members of Parliament in accordance with national electoral laws. Another possibility would be to have Community elections governed by a common electoral system.

The ad hoc committee, in its report, recommends that Parliament do everything in its power to achieve the election of its members by direct universal suffrage before the end of the fifth legislature (March 2024); continue the study on the election of representatives by direct universal suffrage; organize thematic meetings on specific areas such as financing, the electoral code, the code of conduct and the conditions to be fulfilled to take part in the elections.

The commission also recommends appointing a prominent Community figure as a leader to lead the advocacy process; to conduct consultations with the main institutional actors such as the Conference of Heads of State, the Council of Ministers, the Commission and the Court of Justice of ECOWAS; organize study visits to similar regional institutions to learn from their experiences and carry out advocacy with these institutions.

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