West African coups: Confidence in ECOWAS gradually being eroded - Irbard Ibrahim

Burkina Faso government suspended after coup

ECOWAS bloc is chaired by Ghana's president

Irbard Ibrahim calls for a review of current ECOWAS Charter

A security consultant and social commentator, Irbard Ibrahim, has said that the ECOWAS bloc risks heavy resistance should the current arrangements with its protocols within the sub-region remain unreviewed.

Commenting on the recent coup in Burkina Faso in an interview with GhanaWeb, he explained that with the hands of the leadership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) tied, leaving their roles to ceremonial duties only, it creates a situation where it only becomes reactive, instead of proactive.

He blamed the ECOWAS Charter for all the hold-ups the leadership of the bloc has in intervening in political unrests in the sub-region.

“The main problem has to do with the ECOWAS Charter itself. Anybody who heads this regional bloc will have their hands tied. You need to enforce what we call in security circles, early warning mechanisms. Coming events would always cast their shadows. ECOWAS does not have a standby force. ECOWAS cannot intervene on its own in any country so when tied sitting leaders - the old ones, want to do more than their stipulated two terms, ECOWAS can only call for calm and we’ve not seen enough teeth biting on that front and so I think the ECOWAS Charter needs to change.

“The protocol on non-interference in the individual affairs in member states should be changed so that when a leader takes certain decisions that will not inure to the stability of the region, ECOWAS can intervene before things bubble out of control,” he said.

Irbard Ibrahim further said that the trend happening in places like Burkina Faso are only coming about as a result of old, unsolved problems and that raises a lot of concerns about the work of the ECOWAS bloc, which is chaired by Ghana's president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

He warned that if care is not taken, the confidence in the bloc could completely be eroded.

“These are all just pent-up feelings that have been bottled up for so many years and they are exploding now. ECOWAS should be careful because confidence in this bloc is gradually being eroded and I don’t think we’ve responded well to these francophone coup d’états: shutting down borders and suspending the membership of these countries is not the way to go,” he said.