COVID-19 and its Impact on the activities of the ECOWAS Parliament
The Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) commemorated the 1st anniversary of the 5th legislature on Tuesday, March 9, 2021 at the institution’s headquarters in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. It was a solemn ceremony marked by five interventions.
The Secretary General of Parliament, John Azumah, took stock of the activities carried out during the year. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Parliament was able to complete certain activities which were mainly two sessions, three delocalized meetings of joint committees, the participation of the Parliament in electoral monitoring in five countries of the ECOWAS region (Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger), ‘organization of a meeting of the ad hoc committee responsible for proposing mechanisms for the election of ECOWAS parliamentarians by direct universal suffrage, organization of an information mission on the transition process in Mali.
After the Secretary General’s remarks, Hon. Bertile Sakandé Benao, Senator Edwin Snowe and the 4th Vice-President of the ECOWAS Parliament, Adja Saru Camara Pinto, recalled the exceptional conditions, marked by COVID-19, under which the 5th legislature began its mandate.
They praised the Speaker’s leadership in allowing Parliament to conduct a number of activities despite a difficult environment.
The international situation marked by the crisis of the global coronavirus pandemic has brought down if not frozen most of the activities of the 1st year of this legislature, they noted.
Like the other speakers, the Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Sidie Mohamed Tunis, returned to the negative impact that COVID-19 has played on the parliamentary agenda.
He took the opportunity of the celebration to offer his condolences, on behalf of Parliament, to all those who have lost loved ones as a result of this pandemic. He also expressed his solidarity with all those affected in one way or another by these difficult times.
“One thing is certain, we will come out better and stronger together,” Speaker Tunis expressed optimism.
He admonished the citizens of the sub region to respect the barrier measures for fighting COVID-19 which are mainly washing hands regularly, wearing of face mask and respecting physical distancing.
