By Bright Ntramah
President Akufo-Addo in his capacity as Chairman of ECOWAS is hosting his colleague Heads of States in a closed-door meeting to take stock of the political situation in three West African nations Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso.
In his brief opening remarks in Accra at the 5th Extraordinary Summit of Sub Regional Bloc, on the political situation in these three countries, President Akufo-Addo thanked his colleague Heads of State for honouring his invitation despite short notice.
The ECOWAS sub-region in the last 19 months, has experienced four coup d’états. On 18 August 2020, the first military takeover occurred in Mali where the second also occurred on the 24th of May 2021. The third unconstitutional takeover of power took place on 5 September 2021, in Guinea and the third unconstitutional power seizure took place on January 24, 2022 in Burkina Faso.
ECOWAS heads of state have in each of the coup d’états, instituted sanctions against the military leaders in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso. They have also demanded that the military junta in the two countries take immediate steps to restore democratic rule in the affected nations.
The three affected countries have in separate proposals, presented road maps to transition in their respective nations.
ECOWAS leaders have rejected the transition plans and demanded that the three countries take immediate steps to return their states to civilian rule. The Accra summit will look at the various reports on the suspended members. President Akufo-Addo was hopeful the West African leaders will take appropriate decision on the three suspended countries
A Communique will be issued after the closed-door session.