A Security Expert Colonel Festus Aboagye (Rtd) has explained that any decision that is taken by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to send troops to Niger will not be the final decision.
He says the ECOWAS decision will need to be approved by the African Union (AU) and the Security Council of the United Nations (UN).
However, he said, the AU itself is divided on the plan by ECOWAS to deploy soldiers to Niger.
Speaking on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 Wednesday, August 16, Col Aboagye (Rtd) said “Ghana is a member of the African Union, and Ghana is a member of the UN.
“In terms of international law, within the framework of subsidiarity, the responsibility of the maintenance of global peace and security rests with the Security Council. So an Ecowas decision per se is not the ultimate decision.
“In the communique of the 10th of August, ECOWAS requested the African Union and the UN to endorse its decision.
“On Monday, the information out there was that when the AU Peace and Security Council met, they could not arrive at a consensus, they were divided.”
Earlier, he indicated that if the ECOWAS sends troops to Niger to tackle the coup makers, it will suffer a catastrophic failure.
Col Aboagye rather wanted ECOWAS to dialogue with them as part of moves to get the country back to democratic rule.
Speaking on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 Monday, August 7, he said, “The initial ECOWAS attempt didn’t succeed without too much fighting, because the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland is able to mobilize public opinion and resist the pressure from ECOWAS, the AU, and the international community.
“So they remain in power. ECOWAS is left with no other option than to find a way of engaging with them, because if they perceive that they might suffer some catastrophic failure.”
He, therefore, urged ECOWAS leaders to shy away from military intervention in Niger.
Meanwhile, an extraordinary meeting has been scheduled in Accra on Thursday and Friday for army chiefs of some West African states over sending troops to Niger to restore constitutional order.
The meeting follows a decision by the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States to activate a standby force in the crisis-hit West African nation.
The West African bloc had initially given the military junta led by General Abdourahamane Tchiani a seven-day ultimatum to reinstate Mohamed Bazoum as President.
After the ultimatum elapsed, the Authority decided on Thursday, August 10 in Abuja, Nigeria to explore other options including an intervention by stand-by force.
Ghana’s Parliament is reported to have thrown its weight behind a military intervention of a combined force in Niger.
Ivory Coast’s leader Alassane Ouattara, after the Abuja meeting, told reporters that his country has completed financial arrangements to contribute a battalion to the force.
“Cote d’Ivoire will provide a battalion and has made all financial arrangements for the operation if it is to last three months,” President Ouattara said.
“Provisions will be made at the budgetary level so that our soldiers and officers who will participate in this operation do not lack anything. So Cote d’Ivoire is ready.”
The Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff’s meeting in Ghana’s military base, Burma Camp, will “finalise plans for the deployment of the Standby Force”.