ECOWAS reconstitutes council to curb insecurity, tension

Appoints Goodluck Jonathan as Council Chair

The rising insecurity, socio-political tensions and their impact on structural and proximate peace and security in the African region have led ECOWAS to appoint new leaders and also revise the composition of the Council of the Wise, a council created for preventive diplomacy and mediation interventions in member states.

Former President of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was appointed as Chair while Madam Hadja Saran Daraba, former Executive Secretary of the Mano River Union of Guinea would serve as Vice-Chair in the newly reconstituted Council.   

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of Ghana, Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, speaking at the two-day orientation said that the council was set up to assist ECOWAS in delivering on its peace and stability mandate as a necessary condition for continuous development and regional integration efforts.

She noted that the nominees to the Council of the Wise were availing their experiences and expertise in conflict prevention and resolution for the good of the entire ECOWAS Community. 

“The two-day orientation workshop is seen as pertinent, as it is intended to update your excellencies through presentations of horizontal scanning of the current peace and security situation in the region, the relevant ECOWAS legal and normative instruments, policy documents, including ECOWAS mediation guidelines and the statute, which outlines the mandate, composition, functions, and mode of operations of the Council of the Wise,” she said.

President, ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, stated that with “the array of the nominated eminent personalities, the reconstituted Council of the Wise is now ready to discharge spelt out duties as mediators, conciliators and facilitators in the management and resolution of disputes and conflicts in the region”.   
 
Kassi Brou, who was represented by the institution’s Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Gen. Francis Behanzin, further expressed the conviction that the wealth of experience of the nominees would positively contribute to mitigating and resolving the growing regional peace and security challenges in West Africa.