Again, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Snub ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff Meeting

Group warns of more military takeovers 

Linus Aleke and Michael Olugbode in Abuja

Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have, once again, shunned the 43rd Ordinary Meeting of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff, which was held at the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) in Abuja. 

The Sahelian nations have consistently boycotted ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff meetings since they announced their exit from the regional bloc on 28 January 2024. 

Their exit not only depleted the numerical strength of ECOWAS and fractured its integration effort, but also altered existing regional security cooperation and collaboration aimed at fighting insurgency and other transnational organised crime in the Sahel, Lake Chad Basin and West Africa.

To this end, the ECOWAS Defence Chiefs met in Abuja this week to develop a new security strategy to fill the void created by the exit of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. 

Speaking during the meeting, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace, and Security, Amb. Abdel-Fatau Musah, said the meeting would be a pledging exercise towards the counter-terrorism effort.

According to him, “The member states have already pledged a contingent that will form a corps of brigade to fight terrorism in the region. So, with three of our member states withdrawing,  that has become a bit obsolete.

“We need to look at how the gaps can be filled, so this meeting also discussed that at length. The general security situation in the region was also discussed, including terrorism, banditry, and transnational organised crime. Together with other agencies in the region, we are looking forward to how we can reposition ECOWAS to face these challenges as we move forward with our regional integration.”

In his closing remarks, the Chairman of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, said that the three-day meeting aimed to promote regional security and cooperation within the ECOWAS community and forge a common front in addressing common security threats. 

He said: “As we wrap up the 43rd Ordinary Meeting of the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff, we identified critical vulnerabilities to regional security and demonstrated our firm resolve to address these threats.

“As expected, there were areas of concern between members, but more importantly, there was a firm resolve on the need for collective action. 

“This is the spirit of this gathering, which is firmly rooted in a resolute commitment to meeting our primary obligation as members of the armed and defence forces of our respective countries, which is to defend and protect our people from harm and insecurity.”

Noting that they had deliberated over critical security concerns in the West African sub-region, General Musa said: “Some of these areas include the review of pledges for the ECOWAS Standby Force, consideration of pledges for the ECOWAS Counter-Terrorist Brigade, and the rotation of Staff Officers of Peace Support Operation Divisions and the ECOWAS Standby Force.”

  Meanwhile,   the West Africa Democracy Solidarity Network (WADEMOS) has raised the  alarm that the last may not have been heard of military intervention in the political landscape of West Africa as challenges continued to be thrown at democracy by the political class especially those promoting elongation of tenure.

 Rising from its 3rd Annual Regional Convening in Accra, Ghana, with theme: “Leveraging Solidarity Movement in Defense of Democracy across West Africa: Challenges, Lessons Learned, and Perspectives’,” which drew participants from civil society organisations and other civic formations from all the countries in the ECOWAS Region, deliberations were held on the state of democracy in West Africa and the future of multilateralism with a focus on ECOWAS and its reform agenda, the changing face of civil society and the civic space in the Sahel states and West Africa, and the potential for strengthening democratic solidarity and resilience in the region in the face of growing threats.

The gathering lamented that West Africa continues to grapple with challenges that not only threaten the stability and security of the region but undermine efforts and gains made over the past five decades in the area of economic and political integration.

 Participants at the conference expressed deep dissatisfaction with the alarming situation in Togo, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, The Gambia, and Cote d’Ivoire, which are facing significant challenges to their democratic systems, developments that contribute to the broader trend of democratic backsliding and the fragmentation of the region resulting from the withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger from ECOWAS:

They said that in Togo, the recent constitutional changes pushed through by the Faure Gnassingbe regime have been roundly condemned by civil society groups as a “constitutional coup,” calculated to circumvent presidential term limits. These alterations were rushed through by lawmakers just days before the pivotal legislative elections set for April 29, 2024, blatantly contravening the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.

 In Guinea Bissau, the political landscape is equally troubling. President Umaro Sissoco Embaló’s increasingly authoritarian behaviour is in contravention of the nation’s commitment to democratic principles. His continued stay in office and dissolution of parliament on December 4, 2023, executed without regard for constitutional timelines for new elections, underscore an alarming disregard for democratic norms and fuels concerns over the future of governance in the country.

In Guinea Conakry, the political situation is complex and has been marked by instability since the military coup in September 2021. The prospects for elections are uncertain, with the military junta led by Colonel Mamady Doumbouya having postponed elections multiple times. Initially, elections were promised for December 2024, but they have been rescheduled for 2025, which is sparking concerns about the country’s democratic transition.

They equally lamented that The Gambia is entangled in its own set of challenges related to constitutional reform and adoption of presidential term limit. The deliberate avoidance of establishing a new constitution with clear term limits is creating a climate of uncertainty as the nation approaches the 2026 presidential elections.

The political environment in Côte d’Ivoire remains tense, as the country prepares for the 2025 elections, with President Alassane Ouattara’s bid for a fourth term fueling growing apprehension. His abrupt reversal of a prior decision not to seek re-election has raised serious concerns about the prospects for peace and stability in the country.

They decried that ECOWAS, once notable among Africa’s RECs for its successes in championing democratization in its region, is now at a crossroads, facing numerous challenges that threaten its internal cohesion, triggering growing demand for structural and institutional reform.

Among the resolutions of the participants include that countries should demonstrate commitment to democratic principles through peaceful transfers of power; recognize that over the past decade, support for democracy has declined and opposition to military rule has weakened, but there is a growing demand for government accountability, and the rule of law, but support for democratic norms such as election and term limit have held steady; acknowledged the declining civic space, particularly in the Sahel, and the fragmentation of civil society due to new media and the rise of shadow civil society movements, noting with concern the growing foreign information manipulation and interference, targeted misinformation and disinformation; recognized the change in the aid and development landscape, specifically the cuts and dwindling funding to the civil society sector by traditional aid architecture, among others.