Bissau — The Committee of ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff and a restricted Group of Chiefs of Defence Staff of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) have recommended an action plan to assist Guinea Bissau in overcoming the security challenges presently facing the country.
The action plan, which was agreed at the just concluded meeting of the Committee, include the creation of a financing mechanism for the efficient implementation of the reform of the Armed Forces through the establishment of a pension fund, the redeployment of certain military personnel, the restructuring, training and improvement of the living and working conditions of the Armed Forces. In this regard, ECOWAS, the CPLP, the African Union and the United Nations have undertaken to support the mobilisation of adequate resources to implement the reform of the Armed Forces and the training of new recruits in military academies of those ECOWAS Member States, the CPLP states and other partners willing to provide such support. The Committee of ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff also made several recommendations relating mainly to the deployment of military officers to diplomatic and international organisations to be accompanied with severance payment or, if need be reintegration.
This would ensure an honourable exit for the freedom fighters who rendered faithful service to State of Guinea-Bissau. Junior officers could be recommended for positions as military advisers or for severance pay. Younger officers could also be reintegrated. The ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff proposed the review of the law on the organisation of the defence sector and expressed the need for staff to be sensitised at all levels. For recruitment proper, priority shall be given to competence and professional experience. Furthermore, they identified the institutions and individuals who require greater protection, mainly the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the President of the Supreme Court, Judges and Ministers. The meeting therefore recommended that ECOWAS and CPLP should be contacted for the creation of an appropriate fund for the selection and training of Guinea- Bissau officers that may constitute the force or units that will guard these VIPs. It also recommended that the UN, the European Union, the African Union, the United States of America and other international partners should be contacted to provide their support for the training and provision of equipment to the force or units.
ECOWAS and CPLP are to prepare a Memorandum of Understanding to ensure the clear and unequivocal definition of the mandate of the protection force. Concerning the Commission of Inquiry on the atrocities committed since 2005, the Committee of ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff recommended that the CPLP and ECOWAS participate in strengthening the security of the Commission no later than six (6) weeks after the signature of the Report. It also recommended that ECOWAS and CPLP equally participate in the training, supervision and provision of equipment to the protection force for the key witnesses of the atrocities. Guinea-Bissau itself should play an important role in this area. The meeting decided that the next ordinary meeting of the Committee of ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff will be held in Mali on a date to be mutually agreed by ECOWAS and the Chief of Defence Staff of Mali. On the margin of the, the members of the Committee of ECOWAS Chiefs of Defence Staff paid a courtesy call on His Excellency Malam Bacai Sanha, President of the Republic of Guinea Bissau. They also visited the Cumere Training Centre and the Headquarters of the country's Army.
