THE Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) have suspended Guinea from the sub-regional and continental organisations following last Sunday’s military coup.
ECOWAS followed up the suspension by dispatching emissaries to be led by Ghanaian Foreign Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, and representatives from Nigeria, Burkina Faso and the ECOWAS Commission.
ECOWAS reaffirmed its strong opposition to any political change by unconstitutional means and condemned, in the strongest terms, coup led by a lieutenant-colonel, Mamady Doumbouya.
The military junta also came under further diplomatic pressure on Friday when the African Union (AU) suspended Guinea over coup. The AU tweeted on Friday that it had decided “to suspend the Republic of Guinea from all AU activities and decision-making bodies.”
In a communiqué at issued at the end of an emergency virtual ECOWAS meeting convened by ECOWAS Chairman, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to discuss the political developments in Guinea on Wednesday, the bloc also called for the immediate restoration of civil rule in the country.
“The authority expresses deep concern over the political developments in the Republic of Guinea following the coup d’état of Sept. 5, 2021 and their consequences for regional peace and stability,” the communiqué said, adding that the “defense and security forces should maintain a constitutional posture.”
ECOWAS Mission Says Deposed President
The ECOWAS mission is composed of ECOWAS Commission President, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, and the Nigerian, Ghanaian, Burkinabe and Togolese foreign ministers. “President Alpha Condé is well,” Kassi Brou told reporters after ECOWAS mediators saw the deposed president in the city’s junta headquarters.
