Group Reaffirms Commitment To Promotion Of Democracy In West Africa

Posted by Eric Ojo African News, Featured, Latest Headlines, News Around Africa Tuesday, September 28th, 2021

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – West African Civil Society Forum (WACSOF) has reaffirmed its commitment to contribute, alongside the regional institution and other actors, to the preservation and promotion of democracy in the West African sub-region.

With more than 1000 Member Organizations, WACSOF is the umbrella network of the Civil Society in West Africa, covering 18 thematic areas, with representation in 15 countries of the Economic Communities of West Africa States (ECOWAS).

The group is the channel for institutionalized dialogue between civil society organizations and ECOWAS. Moreover, the group builds capacity, advocates, mobilizes civil society, engages in the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies for a prosperous, stable and peaceful Africa

Notably, WACSOF is an excellent channel, a one-stop-shop for systematic engagement between institutions and civil society organizations, for impactful results.

In a statement made available to the media, the group expressed concerns over the disturbing trend of unconstitutional regime changes that have happened in the sub-region, adding that one of the endogenous causes of which is the manipulation of the constitutions of the member states in the search for more than two mandates such as the constitutions of most states have.

WACSOF condemned both the recent military coups and the manipulations of constitutions that have occurred in the sub-region, which plunges the countries concerned into a period of political uncertainty with an outcome unacceptable and unjustified suffering of populations.

The group also reminded ECOWAS member states of the absolute need to comply with laws and regulations on democracy and good governance, noting that legal frameworks such as the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Good Governance (ACDEG), must be respected without any compromise.

Referring to the recommendation No.18 of the final communiqué of the Extraordinary Session of September 16, 2021, of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS on the situation in Guinea and Mali, WACSOF urged the ECOWAS Commission to accelerate the inclusive review of the ECOWAS Additional Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance in order to adapt it to the changing political context and to the aspirations of the populations of the Member States.

The group further called on ECOWAS to include civil society in this review process to demonstrate its willingness to move towards an ECOWAS OF PEOPLE.