The West Africa Democracy Solidarity Network (WADEMOS), in collaboration with Tournons la Page (TLP), West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), and other pro-democracy actors across the region, extend our warmest regards to the Heads of States ahead of the 65th Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government to be held in Abuja, Nigeria, on July 7, 2024. This memorandum expresses our concerns about developments in our region. It offers some recommendations for the consideration of Your Excellencies to strengthen the democratic architecture, improve peace and security, and advance the integration of the peoples of the Community.
As regional Civil Society Organizations (“CSOs”) dedicated to the prosperity and development of the region, we are deeply concerned about the political and security crises and the risk to the unity and cohesion of the Community. These developments, including unconstitutional and undemocratic changes of governments, have occurred, and persist despite the normative framework on peace and security and the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.
We recall that the CSOs and non-state pro-democratic actors that gathered on December 8, 2023, in Abuja on the eve of the 64th Ordinary Session of the Authority of the Heads of State and Government urged ECOWAS to expedite the review of the Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and strengthen it to include a prescription against unlimited presidential terms or term limit elongations, having regard to the damaging impact of term elongation on peace and security in the sub-region.
We note with approval the instruction directed to the Commission at the 64th Ordinary Session of the Authority of the Heads of State and Government, to intensify consultations with Member States to finalize and present for adoption the draft Revised Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.
We note similarly the resolution at the 64th Ordinary Session to convene an extraordinary summit on Unconstitutional Changes of Government (UCGs), the call on The Gambia for the adoption of a new Constitution ahead of the 2026 general elections, the support to Guinea-Bissau in the consolidation of democracy, and efforts to consolidate peace and stability, including through the completion of the on-going review of the Constitution and Security Sector Reform, and initiatives in support of the deployment of the regional counter-terrorism force.
