IN2007, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in its vision 2020 statements declare: First, “To create a borderless, peaceful, prosperous and cohesive region, built on good governance and where people have the capacity to access and harness its enormous resources through the creation of opportunities for sustainable development and environmental preservation.” Second, “An integrated region within which the population enjoy free movement, and have efficient education and health, engage in economic activities and live in dignity, in an environment of peace and security.” Third, “A region governed in accordance with the principles of democracy, the rule of law and good governance.”
ECOWAS frowns at military coups, but it remains silent in the face of constitutional coups. An instance is President Alpha Conde’s constitutional manipulation to remove two-term limits in order to cling on to power in Guinea. The widespread anger over the 84-year-old President Alpha Conde’s third term was one of the reasons the military cited when it overthrew him in September, 2021.
At the community level, for instance, in Nigeria, the citizens envisioned an ECOWAS region in which by 2020, according to the vision statements, they “will be living in a developed and integrated West Africa where all the fifteen national economies have been fused into one integrated, competitive and resilient market, and everyone can operate freely anywhere; have a dynamic regional economy driven by a regionally-inclined business community operating in an efficient and diversified regional production system sustained by modern infrastructural networks; and a highly skilled, flexible and mobile workforce; adequately resourced financial and capital markets; affordable and accessible health and educational systems; and political and economic governance mechanisms operating at regional and national levels that ensure peace, stability and personal security.”
It is one thing for individuals or organisations to have vision statements; it is another thing to achieve those visions within the time frame. Ironically, ECOWAS had achieved almost nothing from its vision statements owing to the fact that the third vision statement (A region governed in accordance with the principles of democracy, the rule of law and good governance), which guarantees the first and second vision statements, is faulty. In other words, there is a general state of growing public frustration and collapse of trust in state institutions across and within the member countries.
Despite the failure of ECOWAS leaders to establish good governance in the sub-region, they continue to reinforce their allegiance to democracy as the best system of government. While addressing the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of States in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, during the sixty-third extra ordinary session of the sub-regional body, held between July 9 and 12, 2023, President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria, who emerged as the new ECOWAS chairman, told the leaders that under his leadership, the commission will take democracy seriously.
The President, whose election in February, 2023, is still being contested in the court, maintained that “democracy is very tough but it is the best form of government.” Two key words to pick from the president’s statement are “seriousness” and “toughness.” He will be held accountable to this statement in days to come based on his style of leadership which analysts and opinion leaders have been observing.
Should the ECOWAS leaders be committed to upholding the principles of democracy, rule of law and good governance, the member states would have long ago advanced in democratic experiments. However, the leaders will always come up with policies that will favour their personal interests over those of the citizens. Consequently, there are observable evidences to show that ECOWAS leaders are far from attaining the level of advanced democracy that guarantees the vision 2020 statements, making it (the vision) to appear more of a paper work rather than practical.
The growing frustration of the citizens and collapse of trust in state institutions always call for a change of government. This shows that ECOWAS is not credible enough to enhance democracy in the sub-region. Since August, 2020, five coups have occurred in three West African countries, namely, Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea. The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau have survived attempted overthrow. The spate of coups questions the effectiveness of democratic transitions in West Africa. Democratic backsliding resulting from governance crises, third-term agenda and constitutional manipulation play a role.
Why will a leader who has not obeyed his country’s constitution be allowed to seek re-election and beyond re-election, manipulate the constitution to guarantee third term rule? A leader that is insensitive to the yearnings and aspirations of the citizens! ECOWAS has not achieved much of the goals of vision 2020 statements. Today, people cannot travel freely across the sub-region; there is no peaceful, prosperous and cohesive region, built on good governance; the people are unable to access and harness their enormous resources and there is no creation of opportunities for sustainable development and environmental preservation.
Geopolitical shift in alliances and insecurity linked to terrorism and crime have also been considered. This is the case specifically for Mali and Burkina Faso, which experienced two military coups in few months. In an interview granted to Al Jazeera on 8 February, 2022, Fahiraman Rodrigue Kone, a senior Sahel researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in Bamako, said that “the recent military takeovers are applauded, and this reflects a deep disillusionment against the political elites that seemed to have failed.”
Each time there was a military takeover, ECOWAS would respond to the coup by suspending the country’s membership where the coup occurred. In Mali, for instance, former President of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, has been leading ECOWAS delegation to Mali to mount pressure on the military to hand over power to the civilians; after talks with the ruling military failed to bear fruits, ECOWAS slapped on sanctions, including a trade embargo and a freeze of the country’s assets at the Central Bank of West African States. The aim was to isolate the soldiers who overthrew the elected officials so that Malians themselves will start pushing for elections. But, for now, the strategy does not seem to have worked. Many in Mali have rallied behind the military government. If ECOWAS can sanction a country by suspension and freezing of the country’s assets, why couldn’t it equally sanction the elected leader that failed to provide good governance for the citizens; a leader who failed to follow the principles of democracy and the rule of law?
In the same interview granted to Al Jazeera, Kone said that “ECOWAS is going through a crisis of legitimacy and credibility. The body is accused of applying double standards regarding its own democratic requirements.” ECOWAS frowns at military coups, but it remains silent in the face of constitutional coups. An instance is President Alpha Conde’s constitutional manipulation to remove two-term limits in order to cling on to power in Guinea. The widespread anger over the 84-year-old President Alpha Conde’s third term was one of the reasons the military cited when it overthrew him in September, 2021. In 2015, ECOWAS came close to banning presidential third terms following the removal of Burkina Faso’s veteran leader, Blaise Compaore the previous year in an uprising sparked by his efforts to extend his time in office. Such a move would have been a first in an African regional body, but it never happened as some ECOWAS leaders opposed it.
Most of the ECOWAS leaders are yet to come to terms with free, fair and credible elections. General elections in the sub-region are always marred by violence, protests, ballot snatching, intimidation of opposition candidates, vote buying and biased electoral umpires. In Nigeria, for instance, the presidential election held in February, 2023. The outcome was marred by protests. Similarly, in Sierra Leone, there was presidential election in June, 2023. The outcome was also marred by protests. All these point to the fact that ECOWAS lacks the credibility to challenge the leaders of the member countries to conduct free and fair elections.
Part of the new strategies is for ECOWAS to be courageous to sanction leaders that fail to provide good governance for its citizens. Suspending a member country for habouring military government should be done along with sanctioning the democratically elected leader for failing to obey the tenets of democracy thereby subjecting the citizens to pain and agony as if they were strangers in their own land.
Why will a leader who has not obeyed his country’s constitution be allowed to seek re-election and beyond re-election, manipulate the constitution to guarantee third term rule? A leader that is insensitive to the yearnings and aspirations of the citizens! ECOWAS has not achieved much of the goals of vision 2020 statements. Today, people cannot travel freely across the sub-region; there is no peaceful, prosperous and cohesive region, built on good governance; the people are unable to access and harness their enormous resources and there is no creation of opportunities for sustainable development and environmental preservation. There is no integrated region within which the populations have access to efficient education and health, engage in economic activities and live in dignity, in an environment of peace and security.
If ECOWAS must be committed to upholding democracy in the West African sub-region, it has to devise new strategies in doing so. According to Daniel Eizenga, a research fellow at the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, “ECOWAS must confront democratic backsliding if it is to meet the growing aspirations of its increasingly youthful populations.” He added that “its failure to do so comes with high costs as evidenced by recent string of coups and criticisms of double standards being lobbed at the regional economic community.”
Part of the new strategies is for ECOWAS to be courageous to sanction leaders that fail to provide good governance for its citizens. Suspending a member country for habouring military government should be done along with sanctioning the democratically elected leader for failing to obey the tenets of democracy thereby subjecting the citizens to pain and agony as if they were strangers in their own land.
ECOWAS must support the electoral body to conduct credible elections devoid of manipulations by the government in power in the member countries. This is part of the duties of ECOWAS election observers; to report to the body, matters arising from the conduct of elections. Each time the election observers present the electoral reports, ECOWAS will remain silent and no actions are taken. Therefore, ECOWAS is challenged at this juncture, to re-evaluate its activities across the member countries for more efficient collaboration to guarantee a healthy democracy.
Owoicho, an educator and language consultant, writes from Ilorin, Kwara State. He can be reached on Whatsapp: 08073524949; email: owoichoalleh@gmail.com
