The Economic community of West African States (ECOWAS), West Africa’s regional bloc, has suspended Burkina Faso in the aftermath of a military coup, making it the third member nation to be punished for a military takeover in just 18 months.
The announcement by the ECOWAS yesterday is coming several days after mutinous soldiers forced democratically elected President Roch Marc Christian Kabore to resign.
The soldiers went on state television to announce their military takeover of the country, which they said was under siege from armed groups.
The military rulers said Kabore failed to stem the violence that has killed thousands during his time in power.
The West African leaders met virtually yesterday to discuss the Burkina Faso coup, and a delegation was expected to travel to the Burkinabe capital, Ouagadougou, in the coming days.
Ghanaian president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the current ECOWAS chairman, described the recent spate of coups in West Africa as “a direct violation of our democratic tenets.
“The rest of the world is looking up to us to be firm on this matter,” he said.
A mission of ECOWAS chiefs of staff will fly to Burkina Faso today and they will be followed on Monday by ministerial-level envoys.
The leaders will meet again on February 3 in Accra to assess the outcome of these missions and see whether additional sanctions should be imposed along with suspension, a summit participant told the AFP news agency.
At the virtual summit lasting about three hours, the ECOWAS leaders also called for Kabore and other detained leaders to be released.
On Tuesday, the bloc issued a statement of condemnation over the coup and accused the military of forcing Kabore to resign “under threat, intimidation and pressure”.
In the past 18 months, the 15-nation ECOWAS has suspended two other members – Guinea and Mali – where coups have occurred.
ECOWAS suspended neighbouring Mali after a coup there in August 2020 and then took similar action against Guinea after the president was overthrown last September.
Mali is also under punishing economic sanctions, including flight bans and asset freezes, after its coup leader failed to organise elections within 18 months as promised.
ECOWAS has faced criticism for its handling of the coups, particularly in Mali where mediators negotiated with the military government on the 18-month deadline for holding democratic elections.
Mali’s coup leader has said that will not be met, citing security conditions, and has announced a vote four years from now instead.
Meanwhile, the ECOWAS leaders yesterday also resolved to engage with the leaders of the junta that overthrew the civilian rule in Burkina Faso.
The minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, disclosed this to State House correspondents after an emergency virtual meeting of the ECOWAS apex decision-making body, adding that President Muhammadu Buhari is in support of the decisions taken.
According to the minister, Nigeria is fully in support of the ECOWAS demand for an immediate return to civil rule, release of the incarcerated President Roch Marc Kabore and total cooperation with the regional body in the process of sorting out the current situation.
Onyema said, “The position is, of course, we condemn the coup and ask for immediate return to constitutional order, the release of the President and anybody else who’s being detained and to cooperate with ECOWAS and to be part of ECOWAS decisions”.
Asked what President Buhari told the ECOWAS meeting, Onyema said, “He said he was in support of the decisions that were taken at this summit. They condemned the coup. They demanded immediate release of the President, who is being detained, and an immediate process of return to constitutional order.
“A decision that the Chiefs of Defense Staff of ECOWAS Member States should head tomorrow to Burkina Faso to assess the situation from a strategic also military angle, and to be followed immediately by a visit of a team of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of ECOWAS countries. Again, to assess the situation and then report to a meeting of the Heads of States, and then a definitive decision will be taken as to how to proceed. ECOWAS is going to have to engage with the junta. Well, you have to”, he said.
On what might happen if the demands are not met, Onyeama said, “That’ll now be for the summit meeting. That’s what I was saying, to now take a definitive decision because they would have had the benefit of the input of the Chiefs of Defense Staff, the benefit of the input of the ministers of Foreign Affairs, who would have gone there, and then they will be in a position to now take an informed and definitive decision”.
