This came to light when Clement Kofi Humado presented Ghana’s Country Report on Friday, 22nd of November 2019 in Abuja Nigeria.
The objective of the report is to share information on how each country is implementing the protocols and treaties.
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It is a peer review mechanism where member countries of ECOWAS debate each country report, make suggestions and recommendations to enable the integration process to move forward.
Ghana’s report covered issues such as political, security and human rights especially of women and children, the proliferation of small arms and money laundering, refugee status as well as internally displaced persons and others.
What attracted the most attention in the Country Report Clement Kofi Humado presented was the position of the Ghanaian delegation on the closure of the Nigerian Benin border and its effect on trade between Ghana and Nigeria as well as other neighbours of Nigeria.
“The action taken by Nigeria is in violation of the ECOWAS protocol on Trade Liberalization scheme ETLS,” he stated.
In addition, the delegation suggested that the ECOWAS Commission expand the mandate of the present task force on ETLS and convert it into an office of Trade Ombudsman, which would have the mandate to receive the veracity of claims by parties as well as determine guilty parties within the framework.
This suggestion received loud applause from members of the ECOWAS Parliament.
Speaker Mustapha Cisse Lo and community lawmakers praised Ghana as a beacon of democracy and relative peace and urged other countries in the West African sub-region to learn from the democratic credentials and pedigree of Ghana.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso, Abuja
