West African leaders are meeting in the Senegalese Capital, Dakar on Saturday, June 4 to discuss regional issues of urgency particularly peace and security, pre and post election violence in member states and The Gambia-Senegal border issue.
The 49 Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will also see the swearing in of the new President of the ECOWAS Commission, Marcel A. de SOUZA. He assumed duties since April 8th, 2016 after a handing over ceremony at the Commission headquarters in Abuja. Souza, a super economist and bureaucrat from Benin took over from Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo of Burkina Faso.
The summit will also see the election of a new chairman of the Commission as current holder Senegalese President Macky Sall’s term has ended and he has announced that he will not renew his mandate. The summit will therefore elect a new chairman, before setting the date and venue of the forthcoming 50 Summit of the Authority of Heads of State and Government.
Besides the inauguration of the head of the executive organ, West African leaders will discuss several issues including the review of the Memorandum on the Status of negotiations of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between West Africa and the European Union, as well as the signed Memorandum of understanding (MOU) between ECOWAS and Turkey.
Leaders will also adopt the reports of the 76th Ordinary Meeting of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers and the 36th ordinary session of the Mediation and Security Council of the regional organization held recently.
The Heads of State and Governments will also discuss the memorandum on the submission of applications for nationals of Member States to open positions in regional or international bodies and adopt the interim report 2016 by the ECOWAS Commission president.
Meanwhile, the opening ceremony of the summit at the King Fahad Hotel will be marked by series of speeches, including a welcoming statement by host president of Senegal Macky Sall.
The new ECOWAS Commission President Marcel A. de Souza, and his counterpart from the African Union, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, as well as the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General in West Africa and the Sahel, Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, will also address the summit.
By Alhagie Jobe
