President Akufo-Addo with Jean-Claude Kassi Brou (front 2nd left), President of the ECOWAS Commission and other Heads of State at the Summit on Guinea in Accra.
President Akufo-Addo, who doubles as the Chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has called on colleague heads of state to be firm and proffer solutions to tackle the unfolding crisis in Guinea without delay.
“We are required to take informed decisions on these matters that would have long term consequences to the stability and the defence of democratic values of our region. I count on you your Excellencies, to help proffer durable solutions to the crisis. I am confident that as in the past, we will rise to the occasion,” ECOWAS Chair, President Akufo-Addo said yesterday.
On September 5, some elements in the Special Forces unit of Guinea’s Armed Forces led by one Colonel Mahady Doumbouya, a French legionnaire, started a mutiny to remove the incumbent President, Prof. Alpha Conde, 83, from power.
The mutineers succeeded in arresting Guinea’s elected President, Alpha Conde, who has since been in detention at an unknown location since the mutiny, and have suspended that country’s constitution and dissolved Parliament.
ECOWAS Chairman, President Akufo-Addo and his other colleague leaders in the sub-region have since been meeting to device a solution to the standoff.
Yesterday, another high-profile extraordinary session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government was held in Accra where eight (8) Presidents, one (1) Vice President and three (3) Foreign Ministers, bringing to a total of 12 Heads of State and Government attended the summit.
As part of the agenda for the meeting, ECOWAS Heads of State and Government received and gave consideration to the Report of the High-Level Mission to Republic of Guinea which was led by the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers and Ghana’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional and Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey.
They were also presented with an update on the transition in the Republic of Mali by the ECOWAS Mediator on Mali, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
President Akufo-Addo in his opening statement urged his colleagues to contribute their best during deliberations to ensure that they deal decisively with the political situation in Guinea.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu