SADC should learn from ECOWAS

Mmegi Editor | Friday January 20, 2017 11:20

This is evident as ministers in his government continue to resign while the army also does not support him. ECOWAS members have already sent heavily armed troops to monitor the situation. The situation in the Gambia could serve as a lesson to the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The SADC bloc should be taking notes on how to deal with troubled countries like Lesotho and Zimbabwe.

The 15-member regional group was initially set up as a trading bloc. But it has increasingly pursued an agenda of trying to ensure that countries apply principles of democracy, the rule of law and good governance. This motivation has its roots in protecting civilian governments from military coups and preventing civil conflict in West Africa. In contrast to other African regional organisations, such as the SADC and the East African Community (EAC), ECOWAS has pioneered norms around election conditions and observation. This includes zero tolerance for power obtained or maintained by unconstitutional means. Prior to the December election, ECOWAS challenged Jammeh’s behaviour in power. Based on a pre-election assessment it concluded that the minimal conditions for free and fair elections were not being met. It said it would not be sending observers, a decision it had also taken ahead of The Gambia’s 2011 presidential election. In 2010, ECOWAS, cooperating with the United Nations in Côte d’Ivoire, rejected what it viewed as an obvious manipulation of the result by the court. It went on to reject any power-sharing arrangements being negotiated. As a result ECOWAS and, with backing from the UN and France, organised military intervention. This is contrary to comparable tactics working in other regions. One example was Robert Mugabe’s move in Zimbabwe to suppress Morgan Tsvangirai and his supporters before the second round of the 2008 presidential election. Even though SADC observers and states condemned the violence, the regional body did not facilitate a fair solution to prevent wholesale manipulation.

Nana Akufo-Addo (Ghana), Muhammadu Buhari (Nigeria), Macky Sall (Senegal), Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Liberia), and Ouattara in Cote d’ivoire all have significant experience in the political opposition before being elected. The fact that they are the product of a transfer of power makes them more willing to push for a transfer of power in The Gambia to reinforce the regional norm. This is not the case in SADC where countries are still largely beholden to the old guard of ruling political parties and elites. Notable human rights abusers have continued to enjoy the membership, support and protection of the Heads of State Summit – SADC’s supreme decision making body – fortifying them to further ill-treat their citizens.

SADC, in its current state, is an affront to its citizens, an anachronistic, patriarchal and patronising organ that – taking over from the former imperialists – is anchoring our underdevelopment. It is time we benchmark on ECOWAS.

Today’s thought

“Regional exchange can be a source of growth and development, and of enhancing good governance.” 

- Anna Lindh