The Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are scheduled to hold an extraordinary summit in Accra today to discuss the political situation in Guinea.
The meeting follows a visit by a high-powered ECOWAS Delegation led by the chair of ECOWAS Council of Ministers, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey to Conakry last Friday to meet with the leader of the Junta Lieutenant-Colonel Mamady Doumbouya and ousted President Alpha Conde.
The visit was to ascertain on first hand the political situation on the ground after the military takeover.
The Leader of the ECOWAS Delegation to Guinea is expected to present a report on their findings to the ECOWAS Leaders during the Summit in Accra.
Addressing the media ahead of the summit in Accra yesterday, Ms Botchwey who is also Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration said 13 Heads of State were invited but seven had confirmed their participation.
The participating heads of state she said included: the President of Liberia, George Oppong Weah who was already in the country.
She explained that Nigeria would be represented by the Vice President while Gambia and Sierra Leone would be represented by their respective Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
Similarly, the President and Vice President of ECOWAS Commission would also participate in the summit.
She said the leaders would review the report from the delegation and take a consequential decision on Guinea towards restoring constitutional rule in that country.
On Sunday, September 5,2021 a special military forces known as the National Committee on Reconciliation and Development (NCRD), led by Lieutenant-Colonel MamadyDoumbouya ousted Guinean President, Professor Alpha Conde and suspended the country’s Constitution.
The Group accused the President of amending the Constitution to extend his tenure for a third term while perpetrating injustice regarding the sharing of the national resources.
Following the Coup, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Chair of ECOWAS, on September 8, 2021 held a virtual ECOWAS meeting with ECOWAS Leaders on Guinea and Mali political situations and subsequently suspended Guinea from ECOWAS.
The Community also requested for the immediate release of the deposed Guinean President from custody.
Mrs Botchwey, providing a gist of the delegation’s findings in Guinea, said the Delegation met with the ousted President and realised that he was physically healthy but psychologically traumatised and still in a state of shock following the coup.
BY CLIFF EKUFUL
