SAT 11 DEC, 2021-theGBJournal- The Goodluck Jonathan Foundation(GJ has called on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and its member states to engage in more proactive measures to shore up the region’s democracy, even as its calls on leaders across the region to ensure that constitutional term limits is enforced and respected in the region.
The Foundation in a communiqué issued at the end of one- day stakeholder engagement meeting held in Abuja to review the effectiveness of 20 years of the ECOWAS supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance called on ECOWAS and member states to prioritize preventive diplomacy and take pre-election assessment more seriously, as “this presents an opportunity to mitigate political related violence in the sub-region.”
The communiqué signed by the Executive Director of GJF Ms Ann Iyonu called on ECOWAS and its member States to be “proactive by intervening whenever democracy is being threatened , even before it leads to tension, rather than the current method of intervention when a coup has occurred.
The statement also suggested that “ECOWAS should consider having a peer review mechanism, just like the Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), which highlights practices and success stories across member states of the AU, and advises on best practices on growing issues.”
The Statements adds that : “There is a need for review of what and how popular participation should be defined and adopted both at the subnational levels and states across the ECOWAS region.
“ECOWAS needs to take deliberate steps to create a space for Civil Society Organisations (CSO) to present recommendations and actively participate in its summit in an organized manner.
On the reason behind the recent negative trend of erosion of democracy in the region, the statement noted that: “some military coups have become successful because of the general perception that the government was not delivering its democratic promises.
“There is a growing anger among citizens from the region and this issue needs to be duly considered because of its potential resultant effect to the region’s democracy.”
The statement calls on leaders in the region to pay attention to citizens’ welfare as “good governance remains the best strategy for the safeguard of our democracy and serves as the best approach towards maintaining peace and stability in the region.
Participants at the meeting were drawn from different West African countries, including stakeholders from Liberia, the Gambia, Mali, Guinea and Nigeria
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