South African president hails ECOWAS action against coups

#Other countries : South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday paid tribute to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for its “decisive” strategy once morest coups, following the deployment in Guinea-Bissau of a stabilizing force.

After a meeting with Umaro Sissoco Embalo, the president of Guinea-Bissau, a West African country shaken in February by a coup attempt, Cyril Ramaphosa felt that Africa should follow the example of ECOWAS , which has 15 member countries.

«The continent has a lot to learn from the way ECOWAS approaches these kinds of issues and faces a series of blows», he estimated. Three countries in the region have recently been shaken by coups – Burkina, Mali, Guinea – all three have been suspended from ECOWAS bodies.

«The determination and the ability to decide on the part of the governance of ECOWAS are elements that represent very good examples for the rest of the continent.»he said.

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On February 1, armed men attacked the Government Palace in Guinea-Bissau, where the ministries sit, while President Embalo chaired a Council of Ministers there.

Embalo, 49, emerged unscathed following hours of firefights that left 11 dead. He presented the coup as directly linked to drug trafficking in this country often described as a narco-state.

After this coup attempt, ECOWAS deployed «a support force for the stabilization of the country»including soldiers from Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Senegal, according to Mr. Embalo.

«ECOWAS has found a solution. In Guinea-Bissau, I have ECOWAS troops. We will do the same in other countries»Embalo said in a joint press conference with Cyril Ramaphosa.

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ECOWAS had already deployed a force for stability and security in Guinea-Bissau (Ecomib) following the April 2012 coup that overthrew Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior.

Made up of more than 1,000 Senegalese, Togolese, Burkinabe and Nigerian soldiers, gendarmes and police, it left the country in September 2020 at the end of its mandate, following having guaranteed the country’s stability for eight years.

Guinea-Bissau, a small nation of regarding two million inhabitants, bordering Senegal and Guinea, is a subscriber to coups. Since gaining independence from Portugal in 1974, it has experienced a host of military and non-military coups, the last of which was in 2012.