ECOWAS leaders approve six member delegation to monitor restoration of political order in Burkina Faso

The Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States, on Tuesday, approved a six-member delegation to Burkina Faso to monitor the restoration of all interim political structures in the country.

The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Desire Ouedraogo, made this known when he addressed journalists on the outcome of the extraordinary meeting of the ECOWAS at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

He gave the names of the members of the delegation to include Nigeria, Ghana, Mali, Togo, Senegal and Benin.

He stated that the delegation was saddled with the responsibility of ensuring the reinstallation of all members of the transitional government including Mr Misha Karfando as the president of the interim government in Burkina Faso.

According to Mr. Ouedraogo, the meeting also assigned the Chairman of the ECOWAS, President, Macky Sall of Senegal and his Nigerian counterpart President Muhammadu Buhari to initiate a political dialogue among all stakeholders.

He said this was meant to finding concessional solutions to the proposed Peace Accord presented to the Commission by President Mackey Sall and President Boni Yayi of Benin Republic, who were on peace mission to Bukina Faso, last Friday..

“They have decided to dispatch tomorrow a delegation of heads of state to go to Ougadadugo, to reestablish Misha Karfando, in his function as president of the transition in Burkina Faso.

“They have decided that the chairman of the authority in collaboration with the Federal Republic of Nigeria will initiate a political dialogue among all stakeholders with a view to finding concessional solutions to the items contained in the peace accord proposal presented by President Mackey Sall and President Boni Yayi.

“They called on the presidential guards to disarm and demanded the other unit of the army not to use force to avoid loss of human lives.

“They have also called on all the stakeholders to exercise patience and refrain from anything that can derail the national consensus,’’ he said.

Mr. Ouedraogo stated that the ECOWAS leaders also requested the African Union and the international community to lift the sanctions imposed on Burkina Faso in the view of the fact the interim government would be reinstated by September 23.

“So, we have decided also to send the military and humanitarian observers to Burkina Faso in liaison with AU and United Nations (UN) to monitor respect for human rights.

“So, these are the decisions the Summit has taken during our meeting,’’ he concluded.

(NAN)