Irbad Ibrahim, a Security Analyst and Executive Director of Irbad Security Consult, has called on ECOWAS to suspend Guinea until the soldiers present a date for election and hand over power to a civilian government.
Special forces soldiers announced on TV that they had ousted Guinea’s long-serving President Alpha Conde, telling the West African nation they had dissolved its government and constitution and closed its land and air borders.
“We have dissolved government and institutions,” an unidentified soldier said on state television, draped in Guinea’s national flag and surrounded by eight other armed soldiers.
“We are going to rewrite a constitution together,” he added.
The soldiers, who detained President Conde on Sunday morning after hours of heavy gunfire in the capital, said he was not harmed, his wellbeing was guaranteed and he had been given access to his doctors.
They said regional governors were replaced by military commanders and outgoing ministers and heads of institutions were invited to a meeting on Monday morning in parliament.
Read Also: Coup in Guinea: Soldiers say constitution, gov’t dissolved
Speaking on Atinka TV’s morning show, Ghana Nie with Ekourba Gyasi Simpremu, Alhaji Irbad Ibrahim said, “The first step that needs to be taken would be to suspend the membership of Guinea until the soldiers present a timetable for an election to hand over to a civilian government.”
The Security Analyst expressed disappointment in the Francophone block of ECOWAS for resorting to Coup d’état to solve their political issues.
He asserted that for the past one and half years Ghana’s President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo was elected as the Chairman of the ECOWAS, there have been about three Coup d’états, saying that each of the Coup d’état has taken place in the Francophone block of the ECOWAS.
Alhaji Irbad Ibrahim noted that the Anglophone countries to a large extent have remained politically stable, pointing Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, The Gambia.
He noted that the problem of Coup d’état has to do with the political instability of Francophone countries in West Africa, pointing Mali, Guinea-Bissau and now Guinea Conakry.
He said although other presidents have headed ECOWAS, President Akufo Addo’s strategies have really helped in tackling Coup d’états since he was made ECOWAS chair.
“When there is coup in your country, he calls an extraordinary session of ECOWAS leaders and immediately your membership of ECOWAS is suspended, until the soldiers hand over power to the civilian government and so far it has worked in the case of Mali even though there was another coup and then in the case of Guinea Bissau. So it is a sad reality that Guinea would go along that path,” the Security Analyst said.
Meanwhile, when asked if a similar thing can happen in Ghana, he said it was not possible as the Past Presidents of the Anglophone countries in West Africa have comported themselves over the years as far as election is concerned.
Alhaji Irbad Ibrahim therefore advised leaders to listen to the plights of the youth and address them moving forward.
He said such coups may occur again until there is a review in the ECOWAS structure so that other African Countries can interfere when some things are not going on well with the others.
Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori
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