An Emergency meeting of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has commenced to discuss and respond to the political situation in Guinea.
The virtual meeting is being convened by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Chair of ECOWAS.
At the opening, President Akufo-Addo described the ousting of Guinean President Alpha Conde last Sunday by an elite army unit of that country as “regrettable and unfortunate”.
He said the situation was “a clear violation of our common charter of good governance” in the ECOWAS Region.
Representatives of the United Nations, the African Union and other stakeholders are participating in the meeting, which has since gone into plenary.
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The bloc is expected to leverage the meeting to reinforce its objection to the unconstitutional political change in that country, and the need for actors in the political situation to abide by the Guinea’s constitutional dictates and the rule of law.
A communique is expected to be issued after the deliberations.
Soldiers, reportedly led by a former French Legionnaire, Lieutenant Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, announced last Sunday that they had seized power and arrested 83-year old President Conde, and suspended the Constitution of the West African nation.
They appeared on national television, with some draped in the red, gold and green flag of Guinea, to announce that the Government had been dissolved because of rampant corruption.
Those behind the coup said that all land and air borders had been closed for a week.
President Conde is being held by the coup makers. Some other persons who were arrested in the process have been released.
