ECOWAS is proud of Ghana's democratic credentials – Says Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Liberian President and Chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf,  says Ghana has


made the regional bloc and the entire African continent proud with the peaceful transition of power over the years.

Ellen Sirleaf said this at the inaugural ceremony of Ghana’s new President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Black Stars Square in Accra, the capital of Ghana. She was quick to add that a fellow West African country, Gambia, still remains a headache to the  ECOWAS.

Madam Sirleaf reiterated that the political bloc stood with the people of the Gambia, they continue to closely monitor the situation. Gambia's Yahya Jammeh has refused to hand over power after losing the elections held in early December though he earlier accepted defeat.

 She said ECOWAS is ready to ensure peace in all African countries after managing political transitions other places such as Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Benin, and now Ghana. She said they are working to entrench that feat. 

She also mentioned how the region has its own court, parliament, and passport as part of its cooperation efforts. She added that total integration was the urgent need to improve movement of persons by road adding that the group must migrate from the ‘‘ECOWAS of states to the ECOWAS of people.’‘

 She noted that ECOWAS was worried about issues of terrorism in Mali and Burkina Faso. 

Jammeh’s party, the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) on  13th December filed an election petition in the Supreme Court Gambia. 

The first hearing of the case is scheduled for January 10, 2017; just 9 days to the inauguration of Adama Barrow as the President.

The Gambian Army has pledged allegiance to Yahaya Jammeh in the midst of the impasse. The opposition coalition also insists that they are going ahead with plans for Barrow’s inauguration.