West African leaders have demanded for a clear pathway of a transition to civilian rule in Burkina Faso and ordered its new military government to ensure this happen within the “shortest time.”
The leaders made the call at the end of a summit of heads of state and government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in the Ghanaian capital, Accra on Thursday.
The one-day summit which brought together eight heads of state from the 16-member bloc, was convened to discuss the resurgence of coups in the subregion, with particular focus on last week’s military takeover in Burkina Faso.
In a communique issued after the meeting, the leaders reiterated their “absolute condemnation” of the coup and expressed concern over the continuous detention of the deposed President Roch Marc Christian Kabore. They ordered his immediate and “unconditional” release, failure of which they threatened sanctions.
Prior to Thursday’s summit, the heads of state suspended Burkina Faso and dispatched two missions to assess the security and political situations in the country.
The findings of those missions were presented to the heads of state in Accra.
“The Authority took note of the deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation in the country. This calls for a quick return to constitutional order to deal effectively with these issues,” the leaders said in the communique.
They specifically ordered the military junta to establish Transition institutions, adopt a transition calendar and facilitate the return to constitutional order.
The ECOWAS leaders also resolved to uphold the suspension of the country until the restoration of constitutional order is attained.
According to the communique, ECOWAS remains committed to help Burkina Faso through the transition process, and to this end, the heads of state instructed the ECOWAS Commission to ensure continuous engagement with the new authorities through the establishment of a monitoring mechanism that includes the African Union and United Nations.
The Burkina Faso coup brought to three the number of countries under military rule in the region. It also comes two days after a failed coup attempt in Guinea Bissau.
The Bissau Guinean government has said that 11 people died in that incident involving renegade soldiers who attacked the presidential compound in an attempt to oust the government of Umaro Sissoco Embaló.
Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo blamed the military coup in Mali for setting the bad trend of coups in the subregion.
Earlier during the opening session of the Accra summit on Thursday, President Akufo-Addo, who is chairman of ECOWAS, described the Malian coup as “contagious” and said it had inspired the “dangerous trend” that led to subsequent coups in Guinea, and Burkina Faso.
“Let us address this dangerous trend collectively and decisively before it devastates the entire region,” he appealed to fellow leaders.
Among leaders who attended Thursday’s summit were Presidents Julius Maada Bio, Alassane Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire and Adama Barrow of Gambia, among others. President George Weah of Liberia was represented by his Foreign Minister, Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo represented Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari.
