West Africa: 49th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government

The forty-ninth Ordinary Summit of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was convened in Dakar, Republic of Senegal on 4th June, 2016, under the chairmanship of H.E. Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal and current Chair of the Authority.

The session was attended by the under-listed Heads of State and Government or their duly mandated representatives:

• H.E. Patrice TALON, President of the Republic of Benin
• H.E. Roch Marc Christian KABORE, President of Burkina Faso
• H.E. Alassane OUATTARA, President of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire
• H.E. Jorge Carlos de Almeida FONSECA, President of the Republic of Cabo Verde
• H.E. John Dramani MAHAMA, President of the Republic of Ghana
• H.E. Prof Alpha CONDE, President of the Republic of Guinea
• H.E. Ellen JOHNSON-SIRLEAF, President of the Republic of Liberia
• H.E. Ibrahim Boubacar KEITA, President of the Republic of Mali
• H.E Macky SALL, President of the Republic of Senegal
• H.E. Ernest Bai KOROMA, President of the Republic of Sierra Leone
• H.E. Prof Yemi Osinbajo, Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
• H.E. Dr Baciro DJA, Prime Minister of the Republic of Guinea H.E. Abdoulie JOBE, Minister for Trade, Regional Integration and Employment of the Islamic Republic of The Gambia
• H.E. Adji Oteth AYASSOR, Senior Minister for Economy, Finance and Development Planning of the Togolese Republic

The session was also attended by Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for West Africa and representatives of the President of the African Union Commission and the Commission of the West African Monetary and Economic Union (UEMOA) as observers.

ON THE SITUATION IN THE GAMBIA

The Authority commends the recent joint good offices mission fielded to the Gambia by the Commission President, the United Nations Special Representative in West Africa and the Sahel and the African Union Commissioner for Political Affairs, in the wake of the tensions that arose after the closure of the borders between The Gambia and Senegal in February 2016 and the demonstrations staged by the opposition on 14 and 16 April 2016.

While commending Gambia’s political stakeholders for the signing, on 20 April 2016, of an agreement to hold free elections, the Summit encourages the Gambian Government and Parliament to initiate the requisite reforms for the conduct of inclusive, free and credible elections and urges the security forces to refrain from the use of excessive force against the citizens and adopt a responsible approach.

The Authority consequently calls on the Gambian government and the opposition to engage in a frank dialogue at the earliest possible time and encourages the Independent Electoral Commission to prepare a Road Map for approval by all the stakeholders of the electoral process.

The Authority welcomes the opening of the borders between The Gambia and Senegal on 24 May 2016 and calls on the two sister states to give dialogue a chance while strictly complying with the principles of free movement of persons, and goods as set out in the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement. 

The Summit instructs the ECOWAS Commission to deploy as soon as possible, a pre-electoral technical mission to appraise the electoral process in The Gambia.

Source: ecowas.int