By Linus Aleke
The Ghanaian Head of Delegation to the Economic Community of West African States, (ECOWAS), Parliament, Hon. Alexander Afenyo Markin has said, the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement and Trans-border Security in West Africa is subordinate to national security.
He noted, that though the free movement of goods and persons is a major objective of ECOWAS, the safety of other countries must be considered first in order not to compromise National Security.
Hon. Markin said, this while, fielding questions from the regional reporters, at the sideline of the ongoing Second Extra-Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament in Lome.
He said the essence of border closure is to ensure the safety and protection of citizens from security threats that may arise from unduly interfering countries.
He said: “One of the confides of getting ECOWAS in place was to place that atmosphere whereas as a sub-region, we will not be limited by borders, but also, member countries have their challenges, the challenge of security, the challenge of political instability. You realize that member states are also finding ways of controlling the free movement in a manner that they can manage, so that they know who is coming in, what purpose, why, and all that. Member States or citizens of the Sub-region are supposed to meet certain conditions, even if they are trading in a member state. All these, are very essential. As Parliamentarians, we should continue to create awareness, let our citizens know the community protocols, if they want to move from their home country to another. We should be able to interact more and explain to our people, and at the same time, we should also let our citizen appreciate the security challenges.
Putin gives final approval to Ukraine annexation plan amid retreats
“My country Ghana for instance, is very much concerned about its northern border, with Burkina-Faso, the instability in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso is of great concern to Ghana, and if we don’t control the influx, it will undermine our own security. So, in this case, they cannot say that in controlling, regulating, and putting measures to prevent influx, we are breaching community Protocols on free movement,” he argued.
The Ghanaian Lawmaker added, “there is an essential need, to ensure that there is security in your own country so that people will not come-in under the pretest of ECOWAS citizen to destabilize your country. So, I think, we have to look at it in that context of what is being done, but on the whole, citizens within the sub-region are allowed free movement across our borders.
“Traders from Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Nigeria, move in and out, of course, there may be some few challenges, but generally, I don’t think that our people have been denied that opportunity that much, but we must also put in measures to ensure that extremist does not take advantage of free movement to destabilize our sub-region.
“Now we have a military government in Guinea, and Burkina Faso. It doesn’t serve the good of the Sub-Region in terms of democracy, we need democracy as a key imperative for economic growth, we need democracy for stability. So, if there is no democracy and if we allow adventurist to come in as they wish, influenced by some external forces or internal forces, then at the end of the day, the whole sub-regional objective of ensuring democracy, stability, and economic growth gets compromised and undermined. These, are matters that we need to look at, and of course, we cant also say that the Sub-region should unduly interfere in the affairs of member states, but we must also be mindful of the principle of the responsibility to protect”.
