Accra, Dec. 19, GNA – President John Agyekum Kufuor, Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government on Friday asked member states to institute regular Cabinet sessions on the organisation to receive and debate reports from the ECOWAS Secretariat.
He said such a measure could step up popular education of their people on the importance of the regional integration process.
President Kufuor made the call in an address to the opening session of the 27th Ordinary Summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC).
The theme for the one-day Summit attended by Heads of State and representatives of the 15-member organisation is: “ECOWAS Instrument for consolidation of Peace and Acceleration of Regional Economic Integration.”
President Kufuor said there was no doubt that ECOWAS and other initiatives such as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), provided member states with excellent windows of opportunity and that the Summit should explore the measures to optimise the benefits from them.
He said the ECOWAS Secretariat required to be strengthened and stabilised with more administrative and technical competence and called for a review of its organs to reflect these improvements and fill those positions.
Giving an overview of the activities of ECOWAS during the past year, President Kufuor said many political and economic successes were registered that had improved the peace and security situation within the Sub-Region and enhanced trade and business interactions among the people.
However, he said these successes were achieved at great cost in terms of deployment of human, material and financial resources by ECOWAS and in many instances with substantial support from the international community.
President Kufuor expressed appreciation to the contributions made by the African Union (AU), European Union (EU), the United Nations (UN) and other international partners whose help had enabled the Community to maintain the peace and security that the Sub-Region was currently enjoying.
Source: GhanaWeb
