September 7, 2024

Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, ECOWAS Member of Parliament from Ghana, said there is an urgent need for Parliamentary diplomacy to help keep the three Sahel Countries in the fold of the West African bloc.

According to him the Community Parliament should activate contact channel with former colleagues of the Parliament before the coup occurred.

Reacting to the issue of Burkina Faso introducing a new biometric passport without the logo of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS),he said that singular action further solidifies that the country’s break from the regional bloc.

“We should move quickly and fast track dialogue, hence the reason why a committee was formed. I do not believe the solution to this problem is with those who had the opportunity to turn things round and they were unable to do so”, he pointed out.

The Deputy Minority Leader of Ghana’s Parliament further pointed out that it is very refreshing that the President of Senegal, H. E Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye is leading in the crusade to see the three Sahel Countries return to the fold of the sub-regional bloc and he needs a lot of support in this direction.

And further appealed to Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, that where the sub-regional bloc has gotten to, they cannot fight individually; there has been issues, but this is the time to come together, and they should open the door for diplomacy.

Again, let us work more together, the only way of lifting the sub-regional citizens out of poverty, is not to go in our separate ways with cup in hand but collectively as a people; we need to work together.

As to whether there is light at the end of the tunnel in the scheme of things, he said “there is hope but we should do away with the face of the old guards who are mediating; they have lost credibility unfortunately including the Ghanaian president”, he lamented.

Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com