Council of Ministers Recommends Expansion of ECOWAS Commission

13 June 2012
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Economic Community of West African States (Abuja)
press release

Abidjan-Cote d'Ivoire — The 68th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers ended in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire on Tuesday, 12th June 2012, with wide-ranging recommendations including one for an increase in the number of Commissioners for the ECOWAS Commission to give Community Member States a sense of belonging.

ECOWAS was transformed from an Executive Secretariat to a Commission in 2007 with the creation of the positions of a President, Vice President and seven Commissioners. The Council agreed to reconvene at a date to be decided to consider the allocation of statutory positions in line with the decision by the Authority of Heads of State and Government taking into account the possibility for the expansion of the Commission.

The ministers also adopted the recommendation of the Administration and Finance Committee for the partial lifting of the freeze on staff recruitment to enable the new management of the Commission to fill some critical positions that would contribute to the achievement of its mandate. The Council noted that the performance of Community institutions varied from 73% to 100% with the programme to administration expenditure ratio of 62.38 % for the financial year under review.

It welcomed the efforts of the Commission and partners for the resolution of the crises in Mali and Guinea Bissau following the coups d'état in the two Member States and reiterated the need for greater solidarity towards the realization of common regional objectives.

On the status of ratification of ECOWAS Conventions and Protocols, the Council noted that of the 53 legal instruments adopted since the establishment of ECOWAS 37 years ago, 38 had entered into force as at 30th April 2012, with 15 still awaiting ratification. Consequently, the Council urged Member States to direct the relevant national authorities to take immediate measures for the ratification of the pending conventions and protocols.

In his mid-year report to the Council, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Ambassador Kadré Désire Ouédraogo, called for the sustained support of ECOWAS programmes by the political leadership with a view to establishing a credible, viable and conducive regional economic space for the realization of the regional integration agenda.

Opening the session on Monday, 11th June 2012, the Chairman of the Council, Ivorian Foreign Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan, urged the Ministers to guide the regional organization towards greater modernization and strengthening of its management procedures. The Council's recommendations will feed into the summit of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State expected to take in place in Cote d'Ivoire at the end of June in Yamoussoukro. A highlight of the opening of the 68th Council session was the swearing in of the ECOWAS Commission's Vice President, Dr. Toga Gayewea McIntosh and six commissioners who assumed office last February, replacing the pioneer Commissioners that completed their four-year mandate in December 2012.

The Council which comprises ministers in charge of finance and regional integration affairs in Member States also expressed its condolences to Nigeria over the recent air crash that killed more than 150 people in the country, and to Niger, over the death of seven of its peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Mission in Cote d'Ivoire.

Read the original article on Ecowas.

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