The Editor-In-Chief of Whatsup News portal, David Tamakloe has opined that many are disappointed in West Africa’s main regional bloc, ECOWAS, because it has not served its intended purpose.
According to him, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has been a “waste” and has failed to put the needs of its citizens first
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The editor shared these thoughts when he appeared on the editor’s take edition of the Happy Morning Show aired on e.TV Ghana and Happy 89.9FM.
“What happened this week [Guinea Coup] has highlighted what many have believed, that, ECOWAS is not serving its purpose. Indeed, we all know that ECOWAS was long existing before EU but the respect EU commands among its citizens and beyond is not a secret. If you observe how EU is able to make certain decisions on behalf of its people, you will understand that they are very serious with what they do. But if you come to ECOWAS, it is very sad”.
David Tamakloe stated that most of the ECOWAS leaders had no moral right to advise the military coup leader in Guinea on what to do. In his opinion, these leaders have been silent on the ills that have happened in their own countries.
Illustrating his point, he said: “In the last election in Ghana, 8 people lost their lives in this fourth republic and the President has been silent on this and yet he leads delegation to advise the military leader”.
“We are not treating ECOWAS citizens well. A simple issue such as the border closure has not been tackled for people to ply their trade and feed themselves. Even with the vaccines, they [ECOWAS] have not been able to take a common decision as a bloc that borders on the fundamental human rights of their citizens. ECOWAS is a waste and as we speak now, there is no leader in the region who is respected”, he added.
On 5th September, 2021, soldiers in Guinea led by Col. Mamady Doumbouya overthrew 83-year-old President Alpha Conde. Announcing the dissolution of the government, the leader of the coup on national TV said the army had no choice but to seize power because of rampant corruption, abuse and disregard of human rights as well as economic mismanagement all under the rulership of Alpha Conde.
The recent action led to an emergency summit of ECOWAS in Accra to deliberate on the way forward against the military government in Guinea and also to discuss the slow progress towards constitutional rule in Mali following a coup in the country last year.
On Thursday, 16th September, 2021, the West African leaders imposed sanctions on Guinea’s Coup leaders and called for elections in 6 months in a demand for a quick return to civilian rule after troops ousted President Alpha Conde. ECOWAS also met Colonel Mamady Doumbouya in Conakry demanding that President Alpha Conde be released.
However, military says detained ex-President Alpha Conde will not be allowed to leave Guinea after the coup.
