�Let�s Make ECOWAS People Centered, Not Gov�t Centered�

MS. HANNAH Serwaah Tetteh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, has stressed the need to work towards realising �an ECOWAS of people, and not ECOWAS of governments.� She said most of the ECOWAS Protocols have not been implemented, as required, therefore, it would be appropriate for people in the sub-region to review and see what can be done differently for the implementation of those protocols. Ms. Tetteh was delivering the keynote address at a day�s ECOWAS Sensitisation Workshop for Public Sector Workers in the Brong-Ahafo Region in Sunyani, under the theme: �Enhancing Public Sector Participation in the ECOWAS Regional Integration Process.� The workshop, organised by the Ministry, in collaboration with Media Response, a civil society organisation, was attended by heads of ministries, departments and agencies and civil society organisations in the region. Ms. Hannah Tetteh noted that most of the people within the sub-region have not realised the relevance of ECOWAS, because governments have not been able to set the structures for its effectiveness and efficiency. She, therefore, stressed the need for people in the West African sub-region to be more creative about regional integration to have the opportunity to attract more investors to the sub-region. The Minister of Foreign Affairs called for collaborative efforts to deal with the challenges facing ECOWAS integration, after 39 years of its establishment, to make it effective. She was optimistic that President John Dramani Mahama, being the current Chairman of ECOWAS, would implement the vision of peace and security, economic integration, and infrastructure development towards addressing the objectives of ECOWAS, when sworn into office, to facilitate free trade and movement. According to the Minister, the Brong-Ahafo Region has been losing many mutual benefits for sharing a border with La Cote D�Ivoire, since it has not been able to manage the process along their common borders. Ms Tetteh said there were many security challenges that were important to dialogue on to minimise security threats, adding, �We need to balance our internal relations with our external relations.� She said the fact that terrorists� activities are not prominent in Ghana, with the free movement of people, any citizen in the Sub-Region can move into a peaceful and secured region to focus on achieving the goals and aspirations of ECOWAS, supposed to be of people, and not state. Mr. Eric Opoku, Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, said regional integration required the commitment and dedication of all and sundry to provide the needed push for its successful implementation.