ECOWAS needs strong supranational government to be more effective – Asare-Afriyie
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) needs a strong supranational authority to ensure the compliance with all protocols by member-states to make it more effective, Mr George Baffour Asare-Afriyie, a Law Lecturer, said on Thursday.
He said even though ECOWAS had various principles such as the Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, there was still the challenge of lack of enforcement among member states.
Having an effective supranational authority would help build a common market and a monetary union to facilitate movement of people, goods, services and capital.
Mr Asare-Afriyie, a Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), said with a strong supranational government, member countries would agree to surrender some of their sovereignty and decision-making powers to a central authority in the sub-region.
The central authority would, therefore, be responsible for implementing sub-regional policies and regulations and ensure compliance with ECOWAS decisions.
Mr Asare-Afriyie made the call during a lecture, organised by the GIMPA Faculty of Law, on the topic: “Giving ECOWAS the Teeth: A Case of a Supranational Government for the West African Sub-Region.”
The lecture was hinged on the need to strengthen the Commission to make it more effective in its supervisory role.
“Supranationalism can be incorporated in the ECOWAS to give it the teeth to make it more efficient in promoting economic cooperation, peace and security, and political integration among its 15-member states,” he said.
That would require the political will, commitment and cooperation from members as well as support from civil society, the private sector, and external partners to achieve the desired outcomes.
To build a strong supranational organisation, he said there was the need to strengthen the ECOWAS Commission as the executive organ of the Community.
That meant granting it more autonomy, resources, and competencies to initiate, implement, and monitor relevant policies and programmes for the sub-region.
“The Commission should also be able to impose incentives or sanctions on member states that comply or violate the Community’s rules and obligations,” he added.
The ECOWAS Court of Justice’s role and authority must also be enhanced, as the judicial organ of the Community, while its jurisdiction must be expanded to cover inter-state disputes, individual complaints, as well as human rights violations, Mr Asare-Afriyie said.
Whilst the court protected people’s rights, its challenge was the failure to sanction individuals and states that did not comply with the laid-down directives.
“The Court should also have the power to issue binding judgements and orders that the Commission or other mechanisms can enforce.”
Mr Asare-Afriyie said another way of ensuring supranational authority was to harmonise trade policies, customs procedures, tariffs, standards, and regulations among member-states, as well as the establishment of a single currency and a central bank for the sub-region.
A common foreign and security policy was another important requirement to ensure coordination of diplomatic actions, positions, and representations among member countries on regional and international matters.
He called for the establishment of a common defence and security mechanism that could respond to threats and challenges to peace and stability within West Africa.
Source: GNA