8 States pilot Protocol on Free Movement within ECOWAS

A regional Monitoring Mechanism for the free movement of inter-state passenger vehicles, persons and goods within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is being introduced on a pilot basis in eight states to build a unified space free of obstacles in West Africa within which people, goods and services can move freely.

Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria are the countries in which the mechanism is being progressively extended and piloted.

When implemented, the mechanism is expected to strengthen the monitoring and implementation of the Protocol on Free Movement within ECOWAS.

Steering committee

A national steering committee of the new protocol was launched in Accra on Monday with the mandate to manage the mechanism through the regional mechanism that is headquartered in Abidjan.

Its functions will be to oversee activities related to the mechanism for monitoring the free movement of vehicles for transporting persons and goods in relation to neighbouring countries.

Each structure represented on the national committee will formally appoint a representative and an alternate, with each committee established by a decree of the minister in charge of ECOWAS affairs.

There will be a representative each from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Transport, the ministry in charge of security, the Ghana Immigration Service, the Ghana Police Service, Customs, the transport unions, marine and forest guards and inter-state transporters.

Ghana committed

Launching the mechanism, a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr Charles Owiredu, said Ghana, as a member state of ECOWAS, was firmly committed to the implementation of the protocol.

“Indeed, it is our steadfast conviction that free movement constitutes the cornerstone of our regional integration effort and services the basis for unlocking the dividends with the potential to advance the sustainable development of our region,” he stated.

Mr Owiredu observed that the launch of the national steering committee in Ghana brought to completion the circle of national steering committees in the eight piloted countries that supported the operationalisation of regional mechanism in Abidjan.

The deputy minister expressed optimism that the launch would pave the way for enhanced intra-regional interactions, particularly the regional effort to facilitate movement of persons along the Lagos-Abidjan corridor.

In his remarks, the Director of Free Movement and Tourism at ECOWAS, Mr Albert Siaw-Boateng, said the mechanism was a public-private-partnership initiative that sought to eliminate unnecessary harassment at the borders.

The Co-ordinator of the International Centre for Migration and Development, organisers of the event, Mrs Mojisola Sodeinde, commended the Swiss government for supporting the mechanism and stated that, “We expect a regime of free movement in the sub-region.”