Ouagadougou: At the end of their meeting Thursday in Ouagadougou, the ministers of the Alliance of Sahel States condemned, in the final communiqué, ‘the illegal and illegitimate confiscation of the assets of the Republic of Niger by UEMOA through the Central Bank of West African States.
The ministers of the Alliance of Sahel States closed their one-day meeting on Thursday evening in Ouagadougou, which allowed them to trace the paths of the Alliance of Sahel States through important proposals and recommendations.
They condemned in the statement of conclusions read by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and Burkinabè Abroad, by Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré, ‘the illegal and illegitimate confiscation of the assets of the Republic of Niger by UEMOA through the Central Bank of West African States.
Faced with this situation, they expressed their solidarity with the government and the people of Niger and demanded the restitution ‘without delay’ of the said assets.
Regarding the charter of the fut
ure Confederation, the meeting of ministers did not consider it necessary to revise it. Thus, taking into account the immediate withdrawal of the AES from ECOWAS, the ministers agreed that the Treaty establishing the confederation takes note. Moreover, the body decided to base the treaty on historical references specific to the people of the Sahel.
They also opted for an institutional architecture including summit sessions of heads of state, sessions of the council of ministers and sessions of representatives of parliaments.
Regarding the issue of the Liptako Gourma Authority, the meeting opted to include the subject on the agenda of the next summit of heads of state.
Also, the ministers adopted the draft graphic reference charter of the AES, and approved the taking of urgent actions for its appropriation by the populations.
In addition, the Ouagadougou meeting allowed the ministers to formulate several recommendations such as the development of the road map for the Confederation of Sahel States, the acce
leration of the development of the AES graphic charter, the elaboration as quickly as possible of projects and additional protocols relating to the distribution and powers between the Confederation and the States.
The ministers also recommended the urgent development of a draft additional protocol relating to the free movement of people and goods, defense and security to deal with the implications linked to the withdrawal of States from the ECOWAS AES, the establishment of a consultation framework to manage the implications linked to the immediate withdrawal from ECOWAS and the identification of strategic partners.
Source: Burkina Information Agency