The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has cracked the whip on Burkina Faso following the military takeover on Monday, January 24.
Led by 41-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba, the military forced President Roch Marc Christian Kabore to resign from office.
The situation forced an emergency Extraordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of Ecowas on Friday, January 28 via videoconferencing.
The virtual Session was under the behest of the Authority’s Chair, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who is also the President of Ghana.
He expressed concerns about the spate of coup d’etats in the subregion with the latest, north of Ghana, coming on the heels of similar military takeovers in Mali and Guinea in 2021.
After the Session, joined by 11 heads of state, a decision was taken to suspend Burkina Faso from all Ecowas institutions.
President Kabore and all other political detainees have been asked to be released immediately and offered protection.
The military have been impressed upon to immediately restore constitutional order “and urges them to remain republican by focusing on the role of safeguarding the territorial integrity of the country”.
The Authority delegated the Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff (CDDS) to forthwith go to Burkina Faso “to hold consultations with the military leaders to carry out an assessment of the security situation in the country and submit a report to be reviewed by the Authority of Heads of State and Government”.
The Authority has further instructed the Ecowas Commission under the presidency of Jean-Claude Kassi Brou to deploy a joint ministerial mission to Burkina Faso on Monday to assess the political situation and report back at an Extraordinary Summit in Accra on Thursday, February 3.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana