President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has voiced significant concern regarding the political situation in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.
These three countries, founding members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), have recently taken actions that jeopardize their longstanding unity with the regional organization.
In an interview with France 24 on Friday, October 4, President Akufo-Addo underscored the seriousness of the situation, emphasizing that ECOWAS, a 50-year-old organization, has historically maintained cohesion among its members.
He characterized the recent developments as unfortunate, stressing that no serious West African nation can be satisfied with the current circumstances.
“It is a worrying situation,” Akufo-Addo remarked. “ECOWAS is a 50-year-old organization, and until this decision by these three states, there had been a significant homogeneity among them. They are founding members of ECOWAS.
The situation involving Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali is regrettable. There is no doubt about it; no serious West African can be pleased with it.”
The President emphasized that it is not in the interest of either the three nations or the ECOWAS bloc to allow this division to continue.
He called for ongoing efforts to establish common ground and to facilitate the reintegration of these countries into the ECOWAS community.
“I don’t believe it’s in their interest, and I don’t believe it is in the interest of the ECOWAS bloc to allow this to happen. I more than hope. We have to continue to work at it to make sure that we can, at the end of the day, find some common ground that will allow them to look at the return to ECOWAS.
“We have to do that. They are important members of the community, and we can’t just wash our hands of them. Even if they want to wash their hands off, we can’t wash our hands off them,” he asserted.
