September 09, (THEWILL) – The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has suspended membership of Guinea following a recent coup in the country, Burkinabe Foreign Minister Alpha Barry said Wednesday after a virtual crisis summit.
ECOWAS also resolved to send a high-level mission to Guinea this Thursday.
A communique issued after the meeting convened by its Chairman, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, said the visit of the ECOWAS mission would be led by Ghanaian Foreign Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey with representatives from Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and the ECOWAS Commission.
“At the end of that mission, ECOWAS should be able to re-examine its position”, Barry told reporters in Ouagadougou after the meeting.
Barry said that ECOWAS would also request that the Africa Union and United Nations endorse its decision to suspend Guinea.
“The authority expresses deep concern over the political developments in the Republic of Guinea following the coup d’etat of September 5, 2021, and their consequences for regional peace and stability”, the communique said.
ECOWAS however, demanded the immediate restoration of civilian rule in Guinea, adding that the “defense and security forces should maintain a constitutional posture.”
It reaffirmed its strong opposition to any political change by unconstitutional means and condemned, in the strongest terms, the coup.
THEWILL had reported that Guinean special forces led by Lieutenant Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, seized power on Sunday and arrested president Alpha Conde, sparking international condemnation.
The coup, although, sparked broad diplomatic condemnation, but also met jubilation in some parts of the capital, Conakry, where residents turned out on the streets to applaud passing soldiers.
Conde had come under increasing fire for perceived authoritarianism. The 83-year-old became the first democratically elected president in 2010 and was re-elected in 2015.
But last year, he pushed through a new constitution that allowed him to run for a third term in October 2020.
The move sparked mass demonstrations in which dozens of protesters were killed. Conde won the election but the political opposition maintained that the poll was a sham.
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