News:
ECOWAS chairman and President of Ghana
February 1, 2022
In the wake of the military coup in Burkina Faso, Mr. Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, lawmaker at the fifth Community Parliament said these developments attest to the fact that citizens in the various members states are fed-up with the elite democratic establishment.
According to him when citizens elect political actors into office in the sub-region they forget those who elected them and the happenings within the sub-region should serve as a lesson.
Mr. Bedzrah recounted that a security expect with the Kofi Annan Peace Keeping Institute in the wake of the coup in Guinea pointed out that by the need of 2021 he was expecting four more coups in the West African sub-region.
“They are what we call early warning signals. Has anyone gotten in touch with him? No, and his statements are all over the place, what have we done about early warning signals?”
Responding to whether the lawmakers cannot play any role in acting on early warning signs as they did in the fourth legislature, he said, “we do not have enhanced powers as it is being said, our powers are limited, we debate and write reports to Authority of Heads of States; they are supposed to implement them, we are not the implementers”.
And if they do not implement them that is how far they can go as a Legislature and added that they as lawmakers can go in and have dialogue with parties with the early warning signals, “what about the Heads of States who have one of their own engaging in some of these illegalities? In Guinea the man changed the constitution to allow him run for a third term”, he lamented.
“And you are not asking the military junta to give time table to hand over, when you were there and the man was doing all those things you could not sanction him; this clearly shows it is a club and when you enter as Head of State your peers would protect you”
He further questioned what the peer review mechanism is all about if Heads of States within the Sub-region cannot do such assessment, “we better close down ECOWAS and give it to the African Union to run it”.
“Our president Nana Akufo-Addo has not helped us at all; under his leadership three coups have occurred within the Community, it shows he is not up to the task it should be given to someone else this would not happen under late former president Jerry John Rawlings or Olusegun Obasanjo. We need strong men who can move in as soon as you have these Intel; Burkina Faso has been there for all these time”.
He added that 2022 is a new year and he hopes the Burkina coup would be the last to be heard of in the sub region, “the Ghanaians president being chair of ECOWAS and its unfortunate that during his chairmanship one term one coup, I call for a quick assessment of his ability to be able to stir affairs”.
The last Ordinary Session in Abuja-Nigeria, Community lawmakers raised issues with the treat to the sub-regional democracy and added that it is not new his former colleagues from Burkina Faso affirm that there has been insurgency in their country, Heads of States were written to and nothing has been done; it shows there is failure by leadership”.
“We have an adage in our part of the world that if a fish would rot, it would start from the head, if Ghana we chair and all these going on it means there is something wrong. The ECOWAS Heads of States went to Mali to prevail on the Junta to stick to the time table and return to democratic time table; what happened? Citizens rose up against them?”
The citizens of Mali indicated that they, prefer the military junta than a democratic rule, same in Guinea when the chairman went with the Ivorian Leader.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com