Report by Nana POKU
An extraordinary ECOWAS ministerial security confab is taking place in Accra to deliberate on the security situation in the sub-region.
Ministers of state, security experts, and stakeholders have gathered for the two-day conference.
In his opening address, the president of the ECOWAS Jean Claude Boue called on the conference to come out with a lasting blueprint to resolve the debilitating effects of the security situation in the sub-region.
He reiterated the need to address the volatile security situation facing some member countries. As a result, the meeting is going to churn out a reliable working plan to iron out the undercurrent crucibles to let the region have a respite.
He thanked the President, Nana Akufo Addo, and the Foreign minister Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey for facilitating the meeting which is to be held behind closed doors to nib the situation in the bud.
The outgoing president said he wishes his incoming president a successful working time. In her address, Ghana’s Foreign minister, Hon Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey expressed her delight in hosting the conference in Ghana.
She lamented the unfortunate security threat in the sub-region. The minister said steps should be taken to return democratic rule to military rule in affected countries to ensure the rule of law.
She bemoaned the tendency where coup d’etats have replaced democratic regimes. She called on the countries to come out with clear timetables to return to civilian rule as soon as possible.
The minister commiserated with the 15 girls who were massacred by terrorists in a Nigerian city recently. She suggested the need for tactics and strategies to destabilize these extremists and fundamentalists to free the region from such unprovoked attacks.
She continued that the region needs peace and to develop and the prevailing relative peace must be consolidated by all methods applicable and necessary. That is the only way the region can progress and be stable for development, she emphasized.
Madam Shirley Botchwey intimated that few disgruntled elements in the country cannot turn the progress clock backward in the 21st century and demanded the rule of law and good Governance from individual country leaders to do the Will of the people to avoid these hiccups.
