Council Of Ministers Recommends Expansion Of Ecowas Commission
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- Category: Latest
- Published on Thursday, 14 June 2012 13:22
- Written by Elombah.com
The 68th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers ended in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire on Tuesday 12th June 2012, with wide-ranging recommendations including an increase in the number of Commissioners for the ECOWAS Commission to
give Community Member States a sense of belonging.
ECOWAS was transformed from an Executive Secretariat to a Commission
in 2007 with the creation of the positions of a President,
Vice-President and seven Commissioners.
Council agreed to reconvene at a date to be decided to consider the
allocation of Statutory positions in line with the recommendation by
the Authority of Heads of State of State and Government taking into
account the possibility for the expansion of the Commission.
The Ministers also adopted the recommendation of the Administration
and Finance Committee recommending the partial lifting of the freeze
on staff recruitment to enable the new management of the Commission to
fill some critical positions that would underpin the achievement of
its mandate.
Council noted that the performance of community institutions varied
from 73% to 100% with the programme to administration expenditure
ratio of 62.38 % for the financial year under review.
Council welcomed the efforts of the Commission and partners for the
resolution of the crises in Mali and Guinea-Bissau following the coups
d’état in the two Member States and reiterated the need for greater
solidarity towards the realization of common regional objectives.
On the status of ratification of ECOWAS Conventions and Protocols,
Council noted that of the 53 legal instruments adopted since the
establishment of ECOWAS 37 years ago, 38 had entered into force as at
30th April 2012, with 15 still awaiting ratification.
Consequently, Council urged Member States to direct the relevant
national authorities to take immediate measures for the ratification
of the pending Conventions and Protocols.
In his mid-year Report to Council, the President of the ECOWAS
Commission, Ambassador Kadre Desire Ouedraogo called for the sustained
support of ECOWAS programmes by the political leadership with a view
to establishing a credible, viable and conducive regional economic
space for the realization of the regional integration agenda.
Opening the session on Monday, the Chairman of Council, Ivorian
Foreign Minister Honourable Daniel Kablan Duncan urged the Ministers
to guide the regional organization towards greater modernization and
strengthening of its management procedures.
The Council’s recommendations will feed into the summit of the
Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State expected to take in place in Cote
d’Ivoire at the end of June.
A highlight of the opening of the 68th Council session was the
swearing in of the ECOWAS Commission’s Vice-President Dr. Toga Gayewea
McIntosh and six commissioners who assumed office last February,
replacing the pioneer Commissioners that completed their four-year
mandate last December.
The Council which comprises ministers in charge of finance and
regional integration affairs in Member States also expressed its
condolences to Nigeria over the recent air crash that killed more than
150 people in the country, and to Niger, over the death of seven of
its peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Mission in Cote
d’Ivoire.
