Wednesday, 4th June, 2025
Hon Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah
Ho West
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to make this important commemorative statement of the 50th Anniversary of the Economic Community of West Africa State (ECOWAS).
I must say that we are not merely celebrating a milestone. We are compelled to engage in a profound and unflinching reflection on the trajectory of our journey. This is a time for a critical introspection, a time to acknowledge not only the considerable achievements that have marked our path but also the complex and multifaceted challenges that now confront us, threatening to derail the progress we have so far diligently pursued.
Mr Speaker, as we celebrate this golden jubilee, we are reminded of our shared aspirations for peace, development, and prosperity. But we are also confronted with a sovereign reality, one that demands not only reflection but urgent and courageous action.
Mr Speaker, the ECOWAS, over the last 50 years, has demonstrated its capacity to shape the course of our subregion, from boosting regional economic integration to playing a frontline role in peacekeeping and postconflict reconstruction. The Community has also survived the political and economic turmoil that has afflicted our continent. It has, at many points, led the way. Remember the successful interventions in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia, which stand as testament to our collective ability to defend democracy and restore constitutional order. We have also witnessed significant strides in fostering the ability to defend democracy and restore constitutional order.
We have also witnessed the strides fostering regional peace and stability, facilitating the free movement of people and goods across our borders, promoting trade liberalisation to enhance economic growth, and implementing a diverse array of programmes aimed at enhancing the quality of life for our citizens. From infrastructural development to agricultural initiatives, from educational exchanges to cultural collaboration, ECOWAS has played a pivotal role in shaping the destiny of our sub-region.
However, Mr Speaker, despite these successes over the past five decades, we cannot ignore the significant setback that currently threatens to unravel decades of integration and cooperation. The West African sub-regional bloc, the ECOWAS, faces disintegration. We are witnessing, perhaps, more than ever before, the growing fragmentation of our bloc. Recent years have seen challenges to the stability of the bloc, including political unrest, security threats, and the withdrawal or a breakaway of countries from the bloc.
On the 28th January, 2024, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso announced a joint statement that they were withdrawing from ECOWAS without delay. Following the military coups, the withdrawal was granted in January 2025, even though the tide can still be reversed until July 2025.
Today, Mr Speaker, other countries are expressing their dissatisfaction with our Union’s ineffectiveness and responsiveness. The very notion of united, peaceful, and integrated West Africa now appears under siege.
Mr Speaker, security challenges ranging from escalating menace of terrorism and violent extremism that spill across our porous borders to the scourge of transnational organised crime, including drug and human trafficking, and the persistent threat of maritime piracy that disrupts trade and endangers the lives of our people, pose a direct and immediate threat to the safety and well-being of our citizens. The proliferation of this threat has not only created a pervasive climate for fear and uncertainty that undermines investor confidence and hinders economic growth but also diverts scarce resources away from the critical development priorities such as education, healthcare, infrastructure, further exacerbating the vulnerabilities of our populations and perpetuating a vicious cycle of povertyand instability.
A significant factor contributing to this is the perceived, in some cases, the undeniable failure of national and regional parliaments to effectively address these multifaceted challenges. This failure can be attributed to a combination of factors, including capacity, limitation that hinders our ability to conduct thorough oversight over the executive branch and formulates sound and evidence-based policies, financial constraints that limit our operation effectiveness, independence and ability to adequately represent the interests of our constituents, and most concerningly, a lack of political will which undermines our ability to take decisive action in the face of difficult choices and to hold those in power accountable for their actions.
We parliamentarians must accept our share of responsibility in this regard. We acknowledge that we have not lived up to the expectations of our citizens, and we must commit ourselves to doing better. The erosion of public trust in our institution, including parliamentarians, that is ECOWAS Parliament, is seriously a deeply concerning issue that must be addressed with the uttermost urgency. We must strive to enhance legitimacy, strengthen our accountability mechanism and improve our responsiveness to the needs and aspirations of our people we represent, ensuring that their voices are heard and their concerns are addressed.
We stand at a critical juncture, Mr Speaker, in the history of our region, a moment of profound decision that will determine the future of ECOWAS and the fate of millions of our citizens. The painful lesson, Mr Speaker, of our past should serve as a stark and sobering reminder of the devastating consequences of division, discord and failure to address the legitimate grievances of our people. In some member states, there exists a growing perception that ECOWAS is either slow to act or detached from the life realities of our ordinary citizens. Others feel that the mechanisms are skewed in favour of certain political and economic elites, leaving behind nations whose concerns may differ due to geographical security threats and governance structures.
Mr Speaker, at the heart of these challenges lies a critical institutional question. What has been the role of national and regional parliaments in either addressing or failing to mitigate this crisis? Legislators, our duty extends beyond representation. 4.06 p.m. We are tasked with holding democratic norms, ensuring accountability of government, and safeguarding the rule of law. Yet, in many instances, national parliaments have been sidelined, weakened, or co-opted by narrow interests. The ECOWAS Parliament itself, although a symbol of regional cooperation, has often lacked the teeth to act decisively in moments of continental turbulence.
The ECOWAS Parliament and, indeed, all national parliaments, have a vital, indispensable role to play in ensuring stability, promoting good governance, and fostering sustainable development in our region. Our influence must be brought to bear through a multi-pronged approach that encompasses strengthening our oversight of the Executive branches of our government, ensuring that they adhere to democratic principles, upholding the rule of law, and respecting fundamental human rights.
We must proactively formulate policies that address the root causes of instability, promote inclusive governance that empowers all segments of our society, and foster sustainable development that benefits present and future generations. We must hold the Executive accountable to the people they serve, ensuring transparency, responsiveness, and meaningful participation in the decision-making process, actively engaging in conflict resolution efforts, promoting dialogue, mediation, and reconciliation as alternatives to violence and confrontation, tirelessly and with unwavering determination to restore among member states and between governments and their citizens. Above all, demonstrate political will to act decisively and collectively, with a sense of urgency in the face of unprecedented challenges.
This is not the time for despair, Mr Speaker; it is time for leadership, it is time for moral courage, and it is time for vision. We, the parliamentarians of ECOWAS, must rise to this occasion, not merely as political actors but also as stewards of the region. Our people look to us not only for laws but for hope, not only for policies but for progress, not only for debates but for direction. In a recent high-level convening held in Abuja, Nigeria, with the theme, “ECOWAS at 50, a Reform or Disintegrate: Which pathway for Regional Bloc?”, among others, the participants rose with a call to reform the ECOWAS Parliament, to play a more legislative role in the community.
The 50th anniversary should not just be to celebrate our past, but to commit a future that is more united, more democratic, and more prosperous. In the ECOWAS Parliament, we must play a greater role. Let it be said that in the face of regional fragmentation and rising uncertainty, the ECOWAS Parliament stood firm. That we found adversity to resolve and to transform our institution, to deepen our integration, and to affirm our faith in a common West Africa destiny.
Mr Speaker, as I conclude, I urge the Rt Hon Speaker to use his high office as the Chairman of the Conference of Speakers and Presidents of African Legislatures (CosPAL) to refer this Statement to the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration for further deliberation and presentation to the House and to report to ECOWAS Commission in commemoration of the ECOWAS at 50, especially as West Africa seeks to redefine the future of regional integration and resilience. May this moment be our renaissance, not our retreat. Let this golden jubilee be remembered not as a time of decline, but as a beginning of renewal.
Mr Speaker, I thank you so much for your attention.
God bless the ECOWAS Parliament. May God bless the people of West Africa.
Hon Laadi Ayii Ayamba
Pusiga
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement ably made by my Colleague, Hon Bedzrah.
Let me first of all thank Ghana for being a member and participating honourably in ECOWAS. Ghana has always made sure it participates and has contributed by paying its dues and fees whenever the need arises, as expected.
Mr Speaker, ECOWAS, as we all know, is basically supposed to be catering for the issues of democracy in the 15 countries that form ECOWAS. But what do we see, Mr Speaker? Notwithstanding the successes that it has chalked, there are a lot of question marks. Today, we have three countries that are no longer with ECOWAS, although we are pursuing them, it is quite difficult because they have their own reasons they have decided to step aside.
Mr Speaker, the ECOWAS Parliament, from my observation and being a member, I have noted that there are a lot that needs to be corrected. The ECOWAS Parliament is not like all other country parliaments. No, the ECOWAS Parliament has teeth but does not bite. We are more or less people who sit back, listen, take decisions, give it out, and sometimes, we are not even sure whether it has been implemented or not. This is a very big question mark and I think that this should be made clear to the Commission that it needs to be looked at.
Mr Speaker, today we are talking about ECOWAS and celebrating it at 50. We are happy we have been able to establish and we are 50 years old, but there is still a lot to be done. The regional integration, as mentioned, is partial because we cannot even get up from Ghana today and go to Togo without having maybe a passport or an ID card, which should not happen. Our women are unable to cross borders and trade freely. We still refer to them as Togolese and we refer to ourselves as Ghanaians and it does not end there. There are gaps.
Mr Speaker, the Eco which we thought would come and unite us has still not been implemented for all these years and it is quite worrying. The issue of democracy is a very big question that needs to be looked at again. I would not run from the fact that a place like Guinea-Bissau, which is still part of ECOWAS and has its members coming and sitting in the ECOWAS Parliament, needs to be looked at immediately and then the problem that they have should be nipped in the bud because a government is not formulated and yet there are members representing the country in ECOWAS Parliament as members of ECOWAS. There is a gap.
If we said that because of the issues in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, we did not want their Members of Parliament to continue to be in ECOWAS, what would be the difference between them and Guinea-Bissau? What is the difference? I have asked that question. It is not today I am asking, and I want it to be considered. I would like that, if this Statement is referred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it should be taken by our Government and looked at carefully. Otherwise, we will just be sitting and lying in the room while our legs are outside. We will be playing the ostrich.
Mr Speaker, the issue of security is a very big threat in ECOWAS, especially in northern Nigeria, the issue of Boko Haram. The pain is that most of those who are always in trouble are women and children. The worst aspect of it is that pupils who are in basic school are normally abducted. We do not know how they end and we do not know what happens. We are faced with that challenge in our own country today in the northern sector. I will not run away from my Constituency and for that matter other constituencies around me like Bawku, and Tempane. Though we have not seen it, we hear and feel the impact of how terrorists are attacking people and doing all sort of things. We are unable to work on it. I think that this is no longer an issue of just the ECOWAS Parliament, but an issue of all countries coming together, because it would not affect only the ECOWAS countries, but the whole of Africa. However, this notwithstanding, we have some good activities that the ECOWAS Parliament has undertaken.
Mr Speaker, the last one that we looked at, I am a member of the Committee and we were in Lome to look at the issue of our transportation; not only about road, but our airfares. What we looked at is the cost.
Mr Speaker, if you are going to Lome by air today, you will be paying more than GH₵10,000, yet, we think that we are fighting for all of us. If I can pay, how many other people can do that? We looked at the issue and it is about certain taxes that have been put in place. We had about 186 taxes in place, some of them recurring. So, we ensured that most of the taxes that were coming from governments should be taken off. We have presented our report on the reduction of our airfare and it has been accepted. We also looked at the issue of the way passengers are handled at airports, especially cancellation of flights, delay of flights, how the agencies or the airlines do not cater for passengers who are stranded.
Mr Speaker, my hope and prayer is that as ECOWAS continues to age, we should achieve our aim of ensuring that at the end of the day, the ECOWAS that we want is what we have and what we should continue to groom.
I thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute.
Hon Charles Asuako Owiredu
Abirem
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for this opportunity to contribute to this commemorative Statement made by the Hon Member of Parliament celebrating ECOWAS at 50.
The question that I would want to ask is, how is ECOWAS relevant to the ordinary person in my Constituency, in Abirem? So, if I go to Abirem and then I talk about ECOWAS, how is it relevant to the ordinary person? I think that at the outset, I would say that as compared to the other regional bodies, ECOWAS stands tall. If we should compare ECOWAS to Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), to Southern African Development Community (SADC), in terms of what we have achieved, I think that we have gone far ahead than the other regional bodies, despite our checkered history.
But there are still a lot to be done because the founders of ECOWAS did foresee a situation where people can move freely within the West African countries. And largely, you can now say that people travel from say Ghana to Nigeria, you can travel from Ghana to Togo, but there are still some hindrances that efforts would have to be made to correct them. So that if we say that there are free movement of goods and services; there are free movement of people, people should be able to go about within the confines and borders freely, without people being stopped and questioned.
Mr Speaker, again, one thing that I have thought about, that I think if we are able to do, will make ECOWAS very relevant, will be the possibility of electing Members of Parliament directly to the ECOWAS Parliament. ECOWAS was modeled around the European Union (EU) and then the other European regional bodies. Now if you look at the EU, for example, people contest for elections to be elected on the EU Parliament. So once national elections are being held, they also go around campaigning and they then talk about European issues. So, if we are able to elect people on to this Parliament, people will go around radio stations, go around campaigning, go to their constituencies, talking about ECOWAS, the need for us to support the cause and explain things at the ECOWAS Parliament.
We do not even know here, because hardly, do we even receive reports from our Members who attend these meetings. So, I think that one thing that if we are able to do, would excite people to know about what is happening within the Parliament of ECOWAS, would be having people directly elected so that people do not even have to come here and then be nominated to that Parliament.
Mr Speaker, that said, I want to conclude by also saying that ECOWAS is all that we have. They have done a lot within the regional body. Now, until recently, we used to have all the 15 countries having leaders who were democratically elected, until recently that we have had three countries going the other way round. But I am confident that the leadership that we have within the body will try and then get these three countries on board for all of us to recognise that the vision of our founders is being realised, and that all the objectives that were set for the formation of ECOWAS are being realised. That said, Mr Speaker, I want to thank the maker of this commemorative Statement, and then I hope that we all join the chorus in celebrating this milestone achieved by the organisation.
Thank you.
Hon Eric Edem Agbana
Ketu North
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity. Let me commend the maker of the Statement for the very detailed presentation on the 50-years journey of ECOWAS.
Mr Speaker, as we mark 50 years of ECOWAS, we do so with pride and purpose. Pride in our forebears who saw the wisdom in unity, and purpose for the tedious work that lies ahead. Mr Speaker, ECOWAS was founded on three main goals: regional integration, economic cooperation, and collective self-reliance. And if we are to be frank with ourselves, Mr Speaker, we know that that dream remains more relevant today than ever before. Because from trade to security, from migration to youth development, all the challenges that we face within the sub-region are interconnected, and so must our solutions be. We must approach issues of youth unemployment and challenges with our economies from a continental or a regional point of view. It is only through that, Mr Speaker, that we can address some of these challenges.
But Mr Speaker, the aspiration for regional integration is often undermined by bureaucratic inertia, by protectionist policies, and insufficient political will. As a Member of Parliament for a constituency that shares boundaries with other West African countries, I must say it is very sad the challenges that our people, especially local traders, even go through just to transact business or to ply their trade across the borders. I want to use this opportunity to call on the Government to facilitate processes to make trade within the sub-region easier. And I want to use this opportunity to remind the Ministry of Trade and also remind His Excellency the President that, as we promised the people of Ketu North and Ketu South, an ECOWAS market which we believe will eliminate the challenges that our cross-border traders are currently confronted with, this is the right time to ensure that such policies are implemented.
I call on the House to support the maker of the Statement in his wish that this Statement be referred to the appropriate authorities, especially the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for some pragmatic actions to be taken because Mr Speaker, we cannot continue talking about ECOWAS only by making flowery speeches. The next 50 years for ECOWAS must be about impact; real impacts that must reflect in the lives of our people.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity. I humbly submit.
Hon Nana Asafo-Adjei Ayeh
Bosome Freho
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I rise to also add my voice to commend the maker of the Statement, Hon Bedzrah, and also contribute or say few words.
Mr Speaker, just like all the other African economic blocs, Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN–SAD), Inter–African Committee (IAC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Maghreb, all of them.
Mr Speaker, there have been some significant achievements and progress, but aside that, there have been some huge challenges. And one will ask, why was it necessary for these economic communities to be formed? It was to help integrate largely in trade and economic integration. But that core fundamental basis for the formation of all the economic communities, today, are struggling.
Mr Speaker, we cannot have a successful trade among economic members in Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), we cannot have same in Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN–SAD), we cannot have same in European Innovation Partnership (EIP), we cannot have same in Maghreb, same as ECOWAS. Major challenges. Why are these major challenges happening? These major challenges are happening because of something we have not adverted our minds to, Mr Speaker, and that is the migration of everything Africa to the world. There has been a conscious effort by foreigners, by the outside world to tap into the trade that we do in Africa.
We will see China-African trade conference. We will see Russia-African trade conference. We will see EuropeAfrican trade conference. We will see U.S.-African trade conference. What is the point? The point is to tap into the trade that we have that is helping, that would improve our system and economy and create jobs for our people, and rather we are having it with them. So, our Leadership are unable to build infrastructures that will help us have that trade smoothly.
Mr Speaker, it is extremely expensive to trade between two African countries than to trade between an African country and China, an African country and Russia, an African country and U.S. We have African countries that even when one is travelling to, one would have to move to an European country before coming back to an African country.
Mr Speaker, when these things are happening, it will be difficult for the core basis and fundamental reason for the formation of all the economic communities be achieved. Mr Speaker, now I am coming to ECOWAS. One of the major challenges is our leadership inefficiency to deal with the crippling terrorism and the crippling political instability in our continent.
Mr Speaker, just recently, we nearly saw another coup d’etat in La Côte d’Ivoire. Mr Speaker, we have not resolved the ones in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, and we are going to have another one in La Côte d’Ivoire. Why? This is because of a certain influence that the foreigners keep on exerting on us and our leadership are not able to speak truth to power. That is why we are in this conundrum.
Mr Speaker, it is important to move forward. To be celebrating 50 years, we must be able to stand and say that look, we have come of age and we have leadership that are able to deal with their issues. Mr Speaker, Africa Union launched a book, African Solution to African Problems. I am yet to find one African country that has practically found an African solution to its problems. It will be difficult. We do not even have the wherewithal, the political powers to do that.
Mr Speaker, the next thing we will talk about is the security challenges. It is critical that the stand-up forces that we have in all the economic unions are wellequipped and well-resourced to be up to the task. A critical example was the Niger one. When we were looking for a standup force to go to Niger, we hardly found one because none of the areas, none of the countries had the might or the powers to do so. So, we cannot be talking about integration without critically looking at some of these key ingredients that make an integration an integration.
Mr Speaker, with these few words, I want to thank you for the opportunity and also commend the maker of the Statement.
I am grateful.
Hon Ayariga Mahama
Bawku Central
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Let me join Colleagues to commend my Colleague Hon Emmanuel Kwesi Bedzrah, for this commemorative Statement.
ECOWAS is 50 years old, and I think that it is time to look back and see how far we have come. Very often, we do not appreciate what we have until we lose it. I have listened to the comments made, and many of them tend to be skeptical about the prospects of the organisation. They tend to be doubtful about what it is that the organisation has achieved. But I want to say that I have travelled a bit, and I know that in spite of its failings, the ECOWAS model as a sub-regional organisation, an effort at integration by a block of 15 countries, is one that is actually envied on the continent of Africa, because none of the sub-regional organisations have achieved as much as ECOWAS has achieved.
Fundamentally, at the core of the ECOWAS principle, the establishment principle is free movement of goods and persons. Arguably, there have been some limits when it comes to the free movement of goods. But as for the free movement of persons, ECOWAS, more than any other sub-regional organisation, has been very, very successful. People travel freely across the sub-region. Once they are able to establish their documentation as citizens of one of the Member countries, nobody really stops them. Remember that even though it is free movement, it is free movement of only ECOWAS citizens, citizens of the member countries.
So at least, there is a need to prove that one is a citizen of a member country and that is why some identification becomes necessary. We have four other sub-regional blocks, and there are about 35 other countries. So, we need to establish that these are our citizens, or citizens of member countries, who can then enjoy the right to move within the sub-region unhindered. Of course, there will be challenges here and there, challenges at the borders, and infrastructure challenges.
But all in all, the principle of free movement of persons is highly respected and regarded in the sub-region. I think that ECOWAS stands tall when we are compared with most other sub-regional organisations. I believe that the effort towards creating a common market, which is the other key pillar of ECOWAS, an economic community, has been challenged and the challenge is resulting from the fact that the sub-region is divided between a Francophone block and an Anglophone block, and that has tended to stand in the way of getting greater integration. This is because the Francophone block tends to be drawn into their relationship with Europe, and particularly France and among themselves.
They are so integrated that they use a common currency and which makes them have a stronger tie, but the Anglophone countries do not use a common currency. The Anglophone countries tend not to be contiguous in terms of territory, but the Francophone, somehow, have been lucky and tend to be contiguous. It is perfectly possible within the subregion for someone to travel through all the Francophone countries without passing through an Anglophone country, but Anglophone countries tend to be surrounded by Francophone countries. If one takes Liberia and Sierra Leone, two very small countries, which are surrounded by Francophone countries.
Let us take Ghana, we are surrounded by Francophone countries. Nigeria is also surrounded by Francophone countries. So, the Anglophone countries are having a greater challenge in terms of uniting and working as a common Bloc in relation to the Francophone Bloc, and that has, throughout the various institutions of ECOWAS, permeated and affected the working relationship between the citizens of the various member states.
Mr Speaker, it is hoped that democracy, which has been adopted as the guiding principle, in terms of the governance of the individual countries, would have done better. Unfortunately, it still remains very challenged and the situation has been exacerbated by recent developments in Mali, Niger, Guinea and a few other countries. Our brothers in Togo are struggling. There are challenges in Benin. Guinea-Bissau has issues, so democracy is seriously being challenged in the sub-region, and we need to work together to help one another to be able to do so fundamentally.
The ECOWAS experiment would have done very well if one or two of the very strong countries economically were a very good example to the rest of the countries and used its economic capacity, military might and resources to ensure discipline within the sub-region. Ideally, the candidate for disciplining, cajoling, and helping the rest of the countries to do well would have been Nigeria.
Unfortunately, Nigeria, with its size as a market, population and its natural resource endowments, would have been the anchor for a very successful sub-regional organisation, both in terms of military might, ensuring discipline, resources and helping our brothers when they are in trouble and open up their markets, so that industries will emerge in others and benefit from the Nigerian market, and keep the economies of others also doing well, while Nigeria also benefits. Because Nigeria has not really lived up to expectations, the sub-region has been challenged. Ghana is emerging as a sub-regional leader, but, of course, Ghana is challenged.
Ghana does not have the advantage of population, resource endowments, advantage of a market, military capabilities like Nigeria and definitely cannot be compared to Nigeria. Yet, Ghana is the country that has, I believe, the moral authority within the sub-region today to offer leadership. That leadership is being offered. I believe that, given our commitments as one of the founding fathers, not only of ECOWAS alone but of the African Union, I believe that we will be able to do whatever we can to bring the subregion together.
Mr Speaker, I can go on and on, but I think that, overall, we have done well. There are challenges, and there are serious threats now, but I am very convinced that, as a sub-region, we will rise to the occasion, mend our fences, reunite, reorganise and make a more spirited effort to entrench democracy. We will share and open up our markets, and, again, we will be each other’s keeper because that was the founding principle that guided our leaders when they met 50 years ago to sign that we should form a common market and a union of a sub-region of Africa.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
Hon Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin
Effutu
Mr Speaker, let me first thank my Colleague, Hon Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, for a well-researched and very insightful Statement.
I have had the benefit of reading his Statement before my comment. Considering the industry that went into the writing of this Statement, I would want to take your leave and share some glory with him in Hansard. I would, therefore, adopt this Statement in its entirety as though it were mine—Now, having said that, I also want to anchor my submissions, first, on a very profound statement coming from my senior in ECOWAS, senior at the bar, senior in this Chamber, and the Leader of this house. He says:
“Ghana has a moral authority in the sub-region to provide leadership”
And why the moral authority in the sub-region to provide leadership? It is because of our democracy. In my early days in the sub-region, when I arrived in one of the countries, I thought the airport was—We were transiting, so when we got out and they said we have arrived, they said that was it. And then we went, checked into a hotel, and the programme was supposed to take place at a supposed 5-star hotel. When we also got there, I asked if that was the place, and they said that was the place.
Then I said, “Ei! Ghana, yԑnyԑ no yie o”. In other words, Mr Speaker, the Lord has blessed this country. Quite recently, I have been talking about the need for us, as a country, particularly we the political class, to bring an end to this, “You do me; I do you”; “If you do me, I will do you”; “If I get power, I will show you where the power lies”. There are certain petty things left for us to do. If we get these things resolved, we would have given it a fine tuning, and I would say proudly that democracy in Ghana has come to stay.
Mr Speaker, if the Majority Leader is calling on Ghana to take leadership in the sub-region, what it means is that we need to do a lot as a country and a lot depends on us as a political class. With the emerging social media and the level of expectation of our youth, if care is not taken, we would find ourselves on the wrong side of history. Let us build the institutions, and let us know the limit of the politics and where national issues begin. If we trivialise issues, one day, we may have some challenges.
If we look at the 2024 elections and study the data, particularly the turnout of the Greater Accra Presidential results, Greater Accra is where all the politics is done; yet, if we look at the turnout, it was 55 per cent. What does this data tell us? That some 45 per cent of our people have lost confidence in the politics of our country and have lost confidence in us, the politicians. They listen to us; yet, they do not believe us.
When one is involved in this enterprise called democracy and the very people he or she is serving do not believe in them, then they will be looking for the alternative. When looking for the alternative, they do not care about capacity. I repeat, in all the countries that suffered revolution in recent history, it is no more about who is coming, it is about being fed up with the system. Let us be careful, and I have been cautioning this over and over again. I did not start this when I entered into the left Side of Mr Speaker. I started it when I was on the right Side of Mr Speaker.
The expectation is high and unbearable, but our conduct will give rise to certain consequences. Let me share a story with you, Colleagues. Harona Esseku of blessed memory, was once upon a time, a Member of this House, particularly the Second Republic. He represented the Awutu/Effutu/Senya Constituency. Esseku told me that once upon a time, some Members of his own fraternity were so upset, including even the opposition and at a point, it got out of hand. Eventually, when the interventionists arrived, it made no difference between the governing party that it was overthrowing and the opposition that it came to meet. They all met at Nsawam. You and I, when we get on the streets, the people will make no distinction. A Member may think he or she is NPP or NDC; no.
They will see us as politicians who have failed them. Let us be mindful of our actions. For now, the Majority have the Government.
We will support them with our constructive criticism to make democracy better, so that this country can provide the needed leadership in the sub-region. But they must equally tolerate us, accommodate us, and manage our views because that is the beauty of the game called democracy. We cannot come and everything is being polarised. Everything is partisan. Ghana is not celebrating hard work, industry, and merit; it has to be whom you know. If I get power, because I am an NPP, I am looking for who is an NDC for me to destroy and when the time comes, and the NDC also gets theirs, they will now say, it is also the time of the NDC to destroy.
Mr Speaker, all we have is our country, Ghana. If we see the way other countries are failing, and if we see the way some of the democracies in the subregion are having challenges, it is because the politicians in those jurisdictions took things for granted. Ɛyɛ na sɛ ɛba a, ɛnkae wo, it becomes sudden. When one is about to suffer a calamity, one does not get any form of notice; it just comes pam. So, the Ghanaian political class, what is happening in the sub-region, which has become the subject matter of our discussions today, should guide us and remind us in how we posture.
Mr Speaker, while at it, let me commend those who came before me and were part of the ECOWAS infrastructure. Ghana, indeed, made significant contributions in the subregion. Ghanaians who went to ECOWAS Parliament or were part of the ECOWAS Commission, I do not have the time to mention names, but any Ghanaian who entered the sub-region, be it an administrator or a parliamentarian, distinguished himself and herself and all these contributions have made our country, Ghana, a shining example in the sub-region.
Mr Speaker, ECOWAS, as has already been said by the maker of the Statement, made some efforts to ensure regional stability. There were several challenges in the sub-region that, through its efforts in diplomacy, it ensured political stability. Today, ECOWAS is 50. We have been told of the numerous challenges. I can say that the clear vision that was established for integration, peace, and development has seen significant strides in promoting economic cooperation, but we can do more. Recently, I was doing some business in Tabligbo in Togo. I was cutting some gypsum from Tabligbo in Togo, all the way to Aflao, then to Buipe to support some cement production, and I know the difficulties I went through, crossing the border, speaking English in a francophone country.
My drivers sometimes get arrested; we show our ECOWAS card, but nobody minds us and all. So, practically, our traders who cross all the way to Nigeria, those who cross the border by road to Abidjan, are they experiencing the integration in its real form and shape? So, that is a challenge that I believe that we must encourage our Government to ensure that integration, free movement of persons, free movement of goods, intraWest African trade is properly enhanced.
We trade more with those outside the subregion than we do from within, and indeed, is it that some of the goods cannot be found within the sub-region? Today, we are concentrating so much on using gold to stabilise our currency. But what we have forgotten is that we can also encourage intra-West African trade, where liquidity remains within the subregion, and that in itself can also help stabilise our various economies. We need to do that so that we will have a broad spectrum of opportunities for our various countries.
Mr Speaker, unfortunately, ECOWAS established an arm of government called ECOWAS Parliament, with only deliberative functions, but with no enactment powers. ECOWAS Parliament has only been a Chamber that deliberates, and when it deliberates, it gets nowhere. I am sure that our colleagues who are yearning to go to ECOWAS Parliament have a lot of dreams and high hopes.
Not to disappoint them, but when they get there, especially those who are coming in newly, when they get there, unfortunately, all the things they say may not have any force of law. They will only talk and leave. I think that our heads of authority will have to look at this to empower the Parliament of the sub-region to have legislative functions. At least they have done that for the Judiciary arm. The ECOWAS Court is now able to make certain legal pronouncements that are enforced in member countries. If that has been done for the judiciary, then our heads of states, heads of authorities, heads of governments may have to look critically at empowering the Parliament of the sub-region to look at laws that would enhance integration and help the course of ECOWAS.
Because Mr Speaker, the only central force to hold democracy together is in Parliament. Democracy without a functional Parliament cannot stand. The reason why Ghana has survived is not because of the Judiciary, nor the institutions that make up the Executive, it is because of Parliament — the people’s representatives; the people have confidence that when things get out of hand, their representatives will speak for them.
Mr Speaker, I would want to make this strong suggestion and without more, I will call on my Colleague, the Majority Leader, to engage His Excellency the President at Cabinet to initiate the championing of the views expressed in this House regarding empowering ECOWAS Parliament with real legislative functions. Yes, Mr Speaker, I am the third Deputy Speaker as has been already said. That comes without doubt, it is so. But what is it about third Deputy Speaker who only presides over a Chamber that only deliberates without any legislative power? Mr Speaker, your gavel becomes effective when what is said can be enforced or become a subject matter of interpretation by a court.
Mr Speaker, I know that the respected Hon Ayariga who himself for many years was part of that Chamber and now leading Government Business, can table this before His Excellency the President, so that when he meets his colleagues, he brings this up. Because the Judiciary arm of ECOWAS now has those powers. The only one left is the Parliament, and even when we go on mission, because we do not have any powers, we go there and sometimes we are snubbed, and we come back home quietly.
So, Mr Speaker, I believe my respected Colleague would take that up. That said, let me thank you, Mr Speaker, for that special waiver. Because after the Majority Leader speaks, no other person would speak, but you granted me that opportunity to speak, and I would want to thank you for being magnanimous in that regard.
Thank you so much, Mr Speaker.
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