Change Of Constitution Can Never Justify Military Take-Overs – Foreign Affairs Minister
Governments in the ECOWAS sub-region have been urged to sensitize their citizens on the benefits of democracy and implement policies that empower the youth economically to reduce unemployment and poverty.
“As a citizen when you put your thumb on the ballot to elect a government, it means you’ve committed to democracy. And so if you’re not satisfied with the status quo, you vote out the non-performing government,” Ms. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration said on Monday.
She said despite the constitutional infractions of some governments in the sub-region, including the change of the constitution to extend their tenure in office, those actions could never justify coup d’etats.
However, she said, the ECOWAS member states should work collectively to deal with factors that trigger coup d’etats.
Ms. Botchwey said this in Accra when answering questions from the media at the Minister’s briefing on what the ECOWAS bloc should do to halt the military take-overs in the region.
The West African sub-region has witnessed three military take-overs within 19 months with successful coup d’etats in Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso and an attempted coup in Guinea Bissau, early this month.
Ms. Botchwey announced that the ECOWAS Commission had successfully reviewed the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and would soon table it before the heads of state for deliberation and potential approval.
The amendment of the ECOWAS protocol would ensure that governments in the bloc that signed onto the protocol comply with the two-term limits to avert change of any country’s constitution by an incumbent government.
The minister urged the ECOWAS countries yet to operationalise the Early Warning Centres, which gathered information and intelligence on factors that could trigger coups and conflicts in any country to do so.
She said Ghana had a strong intent in the stability and security of the African Continent and would work closely with other countries to stop the extremists and violent attacks in the region.
The current ECOWAS Chair, President Akufo-Addo, had shown leadership in helping to resolve the governance matters within the bloc, she said.