The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas, has decried the “arbitrary and irresponsible use of state power” by the military in Guinea against its own people.
7th International Contact Group on Guinea (ICG-G) on Monday in Abuja, Chambas said it was the duty of ECOWAS, the African Union and the international community to rescue the people of Guinea from the military junta, bent on perpetrating itself in power.
“In this day and age, it is no longer acceptable for military regimes and for those who stage coups to benefit from their illegibility and to deny the population its freedom of expression and freedom of assembly,’’ he said.
He said that the ICG-G decided to move its meeting away from Conakry when it became clear that the Guinean government had a hidden agenda.
“The outcome of the sixth session of the ICG-G in Conakry in September, clearly demonstrated that the Guinean authorities were no longer on the same wavelength with the Group and the population, regarding the transition process,’’ he said.
The meeting, co-chaired by Chambas and Mr Ibrahim Fall, special envoy of the AU chairperson to Guinea, is expected to chart a way forward in the imbroglio in Guinea.
The ICG –G is an international body of stakeholders comprising the AU, ECOWAS, EU, UN and other international organisations, charged with the responsibility of liaising with the Guinean government to hasten the return of the country to constitutional rule.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bagurdu Hirse, says ECOWAS felt betrayed by the actions of the Guinean leader, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, to contest elections in his country.
Hirse told journalists at the meeting of the ICG-G that Camara had earlier agreed at their maiden meeting in Conakry early this year that he and members of his cabinet would not contest for the elections in that country.
“Here is a man whom we sat down with and agreed that he will not contest the election, he took us to a television studio and broadcast to the whole world that he and members of the CNDD would not contest the elections.
“We are more than betrayed by his action, he has turned out to be a traitor, ’’ he said.
He lamented the killings of more than 150 civilians in Conakry on September 28, protesting peacefully against the plan by the new leaders to contest elections.
Hirse said ECOWAS might recommend the sanction of Camara in the next meeting of the extra-ordinary summit of heads of state of ECOWAS on Saturday in Nigeria.
Capt. Camara seized power in Guinea on December 24, 2008 following the death of the former President, Lasana Conte.
Source African Press Agency
