Tag Archives: ECOWAS

Conakry, Guinea | AFP |  Guinea’s President Alpha Conde announced a “slight postponement” of Sunday’s referendum on whether to adopt a new constitution, following mounting international criticism over the poll’s fairness. The government argues that the draft constitution would, among other things, codify gender equality and ban female circumcision and underage …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP |  Former Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh, forced into exile in 2017, has been heard in a leaked recording demanding that his right to return be respected by the authorities. Jammeh has hardly been heard from since fleeing to Equatorial Guinea. His comments were made public in a …

Cotonou, Benin | AFP | Benin’s former leader Thomas Boni Yayi flew home Wednesday but hopes of an immediate meeting with President Patrice Talon were quickly dashed amid a rolling political crisis. Boni Yayi had quit the West African nation in June ostensibly for medical treatment, after being held under de-facto …

Bissau, Guinea-Bissau | AFP | A West African trade bloc has given Guinea-Bissau’s “illegal government” named by President Jose Mario Vaz a 48-hour ultimatum to resign or face sanctions, a representative said Wednesday, amid a tense standoff between the country’s leader and sacked ministers. Vaz, appointed as president in 2014, has …

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | Ivory Coast ex-president Laurent Gbagbo, the first former head of state to go on trial before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, was ordered freed by the court on Friday. The court agreed to his release following his acquittal last month on charges of …

Lome, Togo | AFP | Guinea-Bissau’s President Jose Mario Vaz has nominated another new prime minister, the West African bloc said on Saturday, after talks aimed at ending years of political crisis. The Economic Community of West African States said Vaz had nominated Aristide Gomes as “prime minister of consensus” …

Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | The West African bloc ECOWAS declared itself “satisfied” with Sierra Leone’s run-off presidential vote, as vote counting continued Sunday, while noting intimidating levels of security at some polling stations. The second round vote pitted challenger Julius Maada Bio of the opposition Sierra Leone People’s …

Lome, Togo | AFP | Protesters again took to the streets of Togo’s capital Lome on Saturday to demonstrate against the rule of President Faure Gnassingbe, who was in Nigeria chairing a summit of West African leaders. Anti-government marches have been held across the country nearly every week since August, attracting …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | West African leaders on Saturday threatened to slap Guinea-Bissau with sanctions unless the country’s grinding political crisis was resolved within two months. In a summit in Nigeria, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said it was “disappointed with the absence of progress in …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Sierra Leone’s President Ernest Bai Koroma unlawfully dismissed his vice president after he was expelled from the ruling party, a West African regional court said on Monday. Samuel Sam-Sumana was kicked out of the All People’s Congress (APC) in March 2015 on suspicion of fomenting violence, …