ECOWAS Chairperson advises African leaders to avoid massaging constitutions to win third term bids
President Akufo-Addo seeks to address the third term canker that has hit some West African countries.
One of the unfortunate cankers the African continent is saddled with is the issue of incumbent presidents massaging constitutions to exceed the agreed constitutional term limits of their various countries.
West Africa has not been spared when it comes to such situations with an issue already at hand that the Economic Community of West African States is grappling with.
It is, for this reason, President Akufo-Addo who is the ECOWAS Chairperson is seeking to rid the sub-region of this canker by pushing for reforms for all West African countries to outlaw third term bids.
He bemoaned the fact that the root cause of recent coups in the sub-region is the unfortunate incidence of such bids which do not go down with most citizens and they expressed their anger by supporting the coup leaders.
The President while embarking on his tour of the Ashanti Region labelled such acts as an affront to democracy.
He stressed the need for stopping such instances in the West African sub-region and encouraged the smooth transition of power to prevent incidents like what we are witnessing in Guinea now.
President Akufo-Addo seized the moment to extoll Ghanaians principles of changing governments through the ballot box and not guns which have brought stability in the country making her an example on the sub-region and the continent as a whole.
It will be recalled that Soldiers in Guinea led by Mamady Doumbouya in protest to President Alpha Conde’s third term bid overthrew the constitution and took over and the military has since been at the helm of affairs in Guinea.
The coup was condemned by ECOWAS and the United Nations as well making the military handlers in the country work assiduously to bring Guinea back to democratic rule.
For now, the leader of the September 5, 2021 coup in Guinea, Col. Mamady Doumbouya was on Friday, October 1, 2021, sworn in as interim President after ousting President Alpha Conde. President Akufo-Addo has also indicated that “We are opposed, in principle, to any intervention of the military in the political life of a country. The population is capable of resolving its problems through the ballot box.”
By: Stella Annan | myactiveonline.com Twitter @activetvgh
