ECOWAS should consider tougher penalties for presidents defying term limits – Dr Sidie Tunis
Dr Sidie Mohammed Tunis, the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, has urged the ECOWAS Chairman, President Nana Akufo-Addo, to consider tougher penalties for presidents who try to modify their constitutions to gain an unfair advantage.
He said “Amending a constitution to conform to current realities itself is not a problem however when the propose amendments of the constitution protect the governing elite at the expense of citizens or undermined the very nature of the constitutional democracy thereby granting the incumbent undue advantage to extend his mandate then we have a problem”
Dr Tunis also denounced the current trend of certain ECOWAS heads of state revising their country’s constitution before the end of their mandate.
He advised that if the practice was not stopped, it would erode the gains earned by ECOWAS as a community, resulting in further disorder and major risks in the area.
Voter fraud, disenfranchisement, and attacks on free speech and the press, according to Dr Tunis, are vices that harm a country’s election system and tarnish democracy.
Dr Tunis made these remarks at the ECOWAS Fifth Legislative Assembly’s High-Level Regional Parliamentary Seminar in Winneba, in the Central Region.
The seminar’s theme is “Two Decades of Democratic Elections in ECOWAS Member States: Achievements, Challenges, and the Way Forward,” and it is being attended by members of the ECOWAS Parliament and Commission.
Adding her voice, recent events in Mali and Guinea, according to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, have necessitated an immediate revision of the 2001 Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.
She stated that after two decades of existence, it was necessary to modify the text in order to eliminate inherent flaws and incorporate new ideas in order to develop and solidify democracy and good governance in the sub-region.
The Minister added that as the Community adapted to the ever-changing global, continental, and regional environment, it was critical for people’s representatives to assess what ECOWAS had accomplished, the challenges it faced in consolidating democratic practice, and how to work together to strengthen governance mechanisms that would deliver on citizens’ aspirations.
Source: Richard Mensah Adonu | Join our Telegram Group
