Join forces to fight terrorism, organised crime; ECOWAS Heads of State urged

The 44th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government opened in Yamoussoukro, Cote d'lvoire, yesterday with a call on member states to collaborate to fight the new security threat posed by terrorism and organised crime to the sub-region.

In a statement at the opening ceremony of the two-day meeting, the President of ECOWAS Commission, Mr Kadre Desire Ouedraogo, said the threat of terrorism was real and the nation states must rise up against it.

He made specific reference to the Boko Haram gang which had undertaken destructive adventures in Nigeria as a typical example.

In fighting terrorism, Mr Ouedraogo said military action could not be the only option. West African states, he said, must be looking at enhancing economic development, developing the potential of the youth and protecting the human rights of all citizens.

Election

Mr Ouedraogo said in two weeks, Guinea Bissau would go to the polls to elect a new president, and urged the people to make the election peaceful.

He also spoke of 2015 as a crucial year for four West African nations that would be going for a similar presidential election and again expressed the hope that they would rise up to the occasion with clean and peaceful elections. The countries are Nigeria, Cote d'lvoire, Burkina Faso and Togo.

Economic Transformation

Mr Ouegraogo said in spite of the growth recorded in the sub-region there was still a lot to do to achieve the MDGs.

In that respect, he called for a major transformation in the economies of member states, the development of human capital and human security.

EPA

On the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU),Mr Ouedraogo said progress had been made after considering various inputs from civil society organisations.

He commended the European Union for ironing out its differences with ECOWAS on the agreement.

A final decision was to be taken during the closed-door meeting later yesterday.

Opening the conference, the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, Mr Alassane Ouattara, said as leaders they had a lot to offer their people and they could not afford to fail.

He said security of the sub-region was something that could not be glossed over and, therefore, challenged all to play their roles in that respect with all commitment.

Mr Outtara said the integration of the sub-region would go a long way to bring development to member nations.

In a brief statement, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative to West Africa, Mr Said Jimi, said the UN was keen on seeing a prosperous West Africa. 

He, therefore, expressed the hope that the meeting would be highly successful.

As of press time yesterday, the heads of state were in a closed-door session where a number of issues were expected to be discussed and decisions taken.

Among the issues were the 2013 annual report of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, the report of the 12th Extraordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Minister,  and the report of the 13th Extraordinary ECOWAS Council of Ministers and the report of the 31st meeting of ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council.

The situation in Guinea Bissau was also on the agenda at the discussion at the closed-doors where there was expected to be a briefing on the current situation by the chairman of the regional group.