The Member of Parliament for Ho West and leading voice in the ECOWAS Parliament, Hon. Emmanuel Kwasi Bedzrah, has issued a terse warning on the future of the West African regional bloc, describing the current state of ECOWAS as a ‘gradual disintegration’ that threatens to reverse decades of integration, peace, and cooperation.
In a passionate statement delivered on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, June 5 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of ECOWAS, Hon. Bedzrah decried the bloc’s diminishing cohesion and growing dysfunction, citing recent withdrawals, rising security threats, and institutional inertia as urgent signs of a system on the brink.
“The very notion of a united, peaceful, and integrated West Africa now appears under siege. ECOWAS is witnessing, perhaps more than ever before, the growing fragmentation because of significant setbacks,” he lamented.
The MP pointed to the recent withdrawal of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso — announced jointly on January 28, 2024, and scheduled to take effect in July 2025 — as symptomatic of broader dissatisfaction with ECOWAS’ effectiveness and responsiveness.
“Some member states now see ECOWAS as slow to act or detached from the lived realities of ordinary citizens. Others feel its mechanisms are skewed toward political elites,” Bedzrah stressed.
The Ho West MP also painted a picture of the worsening security situation across West Africa, listing terrorism, drug and human trafficking, maritime piracy, and violent extremism as persistent and destabilizing forces.
According to him, these threats are not only costing lives but are diverting scarce resources away from vital sectors like education, healthcare, and infrastructure adding, “It’s a vicious cycle of poverty and insecurity.”
He criticized the failures of both national and regional parliaments, including ECOWAS itself, for lacking the capacity, political will, and independence to effectively confront these issues.
“In too many instances, national parliaments have been sidelined, weakened, or co-opted by narrow interests. The ECOWAS Parliament itself has lacked the teeth to act decisively,” he noted.
Hon. Bedzrah called on legislators to take bold steps to reclaim their mandate and restore public trust, asserting that the region’s future rests not just on executive action, but on democratic leadership from its parliamentary institutions.
“This is not a time for despair. It is a time for leadership. A time for moral courage. A time for vision. We, the parliamentarians of ECOWAS, must rise to this occasion not merely as political actors, but as stewards of the region,” he said.
He pointed to the recent high-level convening in Abuja, themed ‘ECOWAS at 50 – Reform or Disintegrate: Which Pathway for the Regional Bloc?”* and reiterated calls for a stronger legislative mandate for the ECOWAS Parliament.
The 50th anniversary, he said, should not just be a celebration of the past but a recommitment to a united, democratic, and prosperous West Africa.
Hon. Bedzrah urged the Speaker of Parliament to refer the statement to the Parliamentary Sub-Committee on Foreign Affairs for further deliberation and presentation to the ECOWAS Commission in line with the bloc’s 50th anniversary.
“Let this golden jubilee be remembered not as a time of decline, but as the beginning of our renewal,” he concluded.
The emotional address has since sparked renewed conversations on the need to revitalize ECOWAS through legislative empowerment and a reinvigorated commitment to regional solidarity.
