President Umaro Sissoco Mbalo of Guinea was on Sunday elected the new Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African State.
Outgoing Chairman of the Community, President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, announced this at the end of the 61st Ordinary Session of the regional body in Accra.
The new ECOWAS Chairman, Mbalo, survived a coup d’etat in February this year.
This led to the establishment of standby force made up of 609 troops, selected from different member states of the regional body to ensure stability in Guinea Bissau.
In his opening speech at the summit, President Akufo-Addo said the deployment of the troops has been completed.
Part of what the new ECOWAS Chairman is expected to do is to ensure the continuation of transition to constitutional democracy in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, where there has been military interventions.
Mbalo’s tenure will also be faced with terrorism and extremist ideologies in West Africa.
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