The worrisome situation of democratic backsliding, manifesting in both military and constitutional coups sweeping through West Africa has continued to generate concern among civic organizations. Also on the front burner of the conversation for strengthening democracy and accountable governance is the important issue of how to advocate and pressure
ECOWAS leaders to take bold, decisive and inclusive steps towards the realization of an “ECOWAS of the people.” An ECOWAS of the people is in essence, a regional governance architecture where decision making is driven by the citizens of the economic community, and not a decision making process determined by whims and caprices of the political leaders. A veritable opportunity to push these conversations to the fore comes in the form of the 66th ECOWAS Summit holding in Abuja on December 15.
One of the vibrant networks of civil society organizations the West Africa Democracy Solidarity Network (WADEMOS) has been leading the advocacy efforts, by galvanizing scores of grassroots organizations to ensure the political leaders of ECOWAS, hear the clear message of term limits and bringing about the ECOWAS of the people. WADEMOS, which organized an elaborate panel discussion to reflect on these issues was of the view that while significant progress has been made in fostering democracy, recent trends highlight growing threats, including constitutional manipulations to extend presidential terms, military coups, and weakened democratic institutions.
As such, the network called for urgent and decisive regional reforms to protect democratic norms and ensure stability. Specifically, WADEMOS has called for the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, adopted in 2001, to be tweaked and modernized to address emerging challenges, notably the need for a standardized approach to presidential term limits. The group canvassed the position that standardizing term limits in West Africa is critical to strengthening democracy, deterring authoritarianism, and fostering peaceful transitions of power in the region, for a stronger regional integration.
Subsequently, the panel discussants reflected the diversity of organizations within ECOWAS speaking on behalf of the people. There was consensus among the panel discussants that the people of the region are tired of political leaders who personalize power and blatantly refuse to leave office at the expiration of their tenures but engage in various forms of constitutional manipulations to hold on to power. The panellists therefore insisted that on the fundamental question of the limitation of mandates ECOWAS should no longer hesitate, but that it should move decisively to ensure it is included in the instruments of the region, especially because the issue has been pending for close to a decade now.
Panellists similarly voiced the position that one way to reduce the tension and political instability, which the region frequently experiences is to put in place the term limit. This approach, they argued would contribute to the political stability of ECOWAS when leaders accept to use one or two terms and no more, the political crisis and coups, which have become recurring on the continent would be reduced. The civil society leaders therefore described the reforms as indispensable and obligatory. The point was also made that limiting the mandate of some leaders in the region, while leaving others to do as they please would not be an appropriate strategy.
In the context of the exit of the Sahelian states, including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, civil society leaders called for an intensification of diplomatic efforts to ensure ECOWAS does not fall apart. The looming exit of the Sahelian states is a threat to grassroots inclusion, especially because it is the citizens in those countries who would bear the brunt of such. While the participants reaffirmed commitment to democratic principles, they insisted that ECOWAS should remain a unifying force for the peoples of West Africa. The civic leaders at the conversation therefore advocated that an understanding should be reached between the ECOWAS Heads of State and leaders of the Sahelian states threatening to leave to preserve regional integrity of the sub-region.
Nonetheless, the question was posed if ECOWAS could really reform itself. According to WADEMOS Advocacy Officer, Austin Aigbe, one way to address the political accountability deficit in ECOWAS is to for citizens to call out elected officials who engage in constitutional coups. He pointed out how the data for coups in the region shows that there have been 26 coups in Africa between 2002 and 2023; half of the coups, he noted happened in West Africa.
In terms of constitutional coups, he noted that 35 amendments have been undertaken in 24 African countries, much of them with the goal of subverting term limit for the political leader to elongate his tenure. With this situation, the point was stressed about how trust in Election Management Bodies (EMBs) is now at an all-time low. By and large, it was argued that the repeated alterations of constitutions for the purpose of elongating tenures are a contributory factor to violent elections, resulting in loss of lives and the destruction of property.
Consequently, the idea is that the violence and tension could be partially addressed if term limits are respected by political leaders in West Africa.
Subsequently, as the 66th Summit of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State gets underway in Abuja, WADEMOS, Tournons la Page (TLP), Afrikajom Center, Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), as well as several civil society organizations from Nigeria have reiterated the call that ECOWAS must strengthen its role as a guarantor of stability and good governance.
The groups said: “To this end, we call to the Authority of Heads of State and Government, on the eve of the 66th Conference of Heads of State and Government, placing them before their historical responsibility, and unanimously asking them:
“To adopt the provision limiting the mandates of Heads of State and Government to consolidate further the principles of constitutional convergence and democracy in our community space.
“To continue discussions and negotiations with the sister countries of the AES for the implementation of reforms likely to guarantee the maintenance of these countries within the Community.
“To undertake urgent and structural reforms to strengthen the prerogatives of the Commission and Parliament; To strengthen the quality of electoral processes to guarantee access to power and alternation through free, honest, and transparent elections;
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“To take appropriate measures to support citizen participation in decision-making and political processes. On the eve of the celebration of its 50th anniversary, ECOWAS must strengthen its credibility by successfully carrying out the reforms essential to strengthening its legitimacy to become the ECOWAS of the people,” the groups said.
Armsfree Ajanaku is an information integrity expert and Executive Director of Grassroots Centre for Rights & Civic Orientation.
