By Bright Ntramah
ECOWAS is set to deploy a force in Guinea Bissau to support the stabilisation of that country following an attempted coup. The Authority has also urged the Military Junta in Burkina Faso to immediately propose a time table to return the country to constitutional rule. The ECOWAS leaders have also called for the unconditional release of the deposed President Roch Marc Christian Kabore. Briefing the media in Accra after its Extraordinary Summit, President of the ECOWAS Commission, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou said Military intervention is not the solution to challenges facing the sub-region.
The meeting ended without imposing sanctions on Burkina Faso. The Heads of State and Government considered the report of the Mission of the Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff (CCDS) presented by Major General, Thomas Oppong Peprah, Chief of Army Staff of Ghana, and the report of the joint ECOWAS-UNOWAS Ministerial Mission presented by the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey.
Both Missions were deployed to Burkina Faso last month to assess the political and security situation in that country after the coup d’état. They also considered the Memoranda on the political situations in Mali and Guinea.
The Authority was briefed by Suzi Carla Barbosa, Senior Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and the Diaspora of Guinea Bissau on the circumstances surrounding the attempted coup d’Etat in that country.
The Authority strongly condemned the attempted coup and expressed solidarity with President Umaro Sissoco EMBALO and the people of Guinea Bissau. ECOWAS has therefore decided to ”deploy a force to support the stabilization of Guinea Bissau”, according to Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, President of the ECOWAS Commission.
On the Political situation in Burkina Faso, the West African Bloc upheld the suspension of Burkina Faso from all ECOWAS Institutions until the restoration of constitutional order. They called on the military authorities to establish the Transition institutions, adopt a transition calendar and facilitate the return to constitutional order soonest.
The Authority raised concern over the breach of constitutional order in the region notably with the recent military coup d’état and attempted overthrows in some Member States. It reaffirmed its commitment to strengthen democracy, freedom and good governance in the region and instructed the Commission to expedite action on the review of the 2001 Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and the related legal instruments.
