ECOWAS suspends Burkina Faso after coup
Accra, Ghana (PANA) - The extraordinary virtual summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ended on Friday with the suspension of Burkina Faso's membership over Monday's military coup that toppled the government of President Christian Kabore.
Officials of the regional body also said that another extraordinary summit will take place next Thursday in Accra to decide the next line of action.
Meanwhile, a delegation of the ECOWAS Committee of Defence Chiefs of Staff will visit Burkina Faso on Saturday to be followed by a ministerial delegation's visit on Monday for talks with the Lt-Col Paul-Henri Damiba-led junta, ahead of the in-person Summit on Thursday.
ECOWAS and the international community have condemned the coup in Burkina Faso and demanded the return to constitutional order and unconditional release of detained Kabore.
Burkina Faso has joined Mali and Guinea as member states suspended by ECOWAS over military takeovers in the last 18 months.
The regional body has also imposed targeted sanctions on the Guinea junta leaders and an unprecedented blockade against Mali after the coup leaders there changed the transition timetable.
But the sanctions would seem to have had no effects in stopping military incursions into politics in the restive region, which is reeling under insecurity, bad governance, corruption and tenure elongation by leaders.
In his opening speech of the virtual extraordinary summit, Ghana's president and chairman of ECOWAS, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo warned that no country was insulated from the deteriorating political situation in the sub-region.
He said the coup in Burkina Faso and its ramifications had grave consequences for the peace and stability of the region.
"The deteriorating political situation in our region should be a matter of grave concern to us. No country is insulated from its occurrence in the community and we have to take action to nip it in the bud," President Akufo-Addo said.
He noted that the coups in Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso were setbacks to democracy.
Added to these is the complex environment occasioned by terrorist attacks and pandemics, presenting a toxic situation.
He told his colleagues that he hoped the meeting would find solutions to the urgent situation in Burkina Faso, restore constitutional order and stabilize the region.
"We should not renege in our collective duties and obligations to ensure a peaceful and democratic, stable and prosperous community," President Akufo-Addo said.
-0- PANA PR/MA/RA 28Jan2022
