The Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS Parliament has called for stronger regional security to avert unconstitutional change of government in the region.
The call came at the close of the delocalized meeting of the ECOWAS Parliament Joint Committees on Political Affairs, Peace, Security, and the African Peer Review Mechanism, Judicial Affairs and Human Rights, Social Affairs, Gender, and Women Empowerment, held in Monrovia, Liberia from July 25 to July 28.
The meeting was held in the wake of a recent coup in Niger, as well as other coups in the region in recent years.
The draft report presented at the end of the meeting called on the ECOWAS Commission to work hard to strengthen collective regional security operations in collaboration with the African Union and key partners.
It also urged the ECOWAS Commission to continue to intensify dialogue with the transitional authorities in Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso, and to develop mechanisms to enable the ECOWAS Parliament to be proactive in conflict prevention and management.
The report also called on member states to centralize military commands to avoid the formation of elite military units or parallel military forces whose command and control are outside a unified command structure.
Senator Edwin Snowe, Leader of the Liberian Delegation to the ECOWAS Parliament, in an interview with journalists at the end of the meeting, lamented the military incursion on democratic rule in the region, describing it as a shame on the region’s democracy which must be stopped.
Senator Snowe expressed optimism in the leadership of President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria, who is Chair of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of States, to intervene in the unconstitutional change of government in the Republic of Niger.
“It is actually a shame on our region, and we hope that we will find a way to stop this,” Snowe said. “Because backsliding from democracy, gone are the days when we had the Samuel Doe, Jerry Rawling, Yahaya Jameh, Abacha’s. Gone are those days.”
“We have made significant progress in our drive to democracy so to see us going back to where we come from is a shame and I hope that something will be done in a faster manner for us to correct the situation.”
