Dr. Chambas' Fate To Be Determined

The fate of Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas who is contesting for the position of ECOWAS Executive Secretary will be known over the next few days as West African heads of State convene in Dakar, Senegal for the annual ECOWAS summit. The Heads of State will elect a new person to replace Lansana Kouyate’s whose mandate expires this month.

Dr. Chambas who is the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentarian for Bimbilla is already in Dakar to lobby Foreign Ministers who have been meeting in the Senegalese capital ahead of the Heads of State summit. The summit will discuss the security, political and socio-economic situation of the sub-region and also confirm host President Abdoulaye Wade as the new chairman of the regional grouping.

Outgoing ECOWAS Chairman and Malian President Alpha Omar Konare wants the Summit to tackle violence in the sub-region. Konare says the Dakar Summit should strive to consolidate the efforts of the 15-member states for the lifting of UN sanctions against Liberia. President Kufuor is due to leave Accra tomorrow for the summit.

Meanwhile, Liberian President Charles Taylor is refusing to attend the summit because of fears that his opponents are plotting to kill him. Taylor says the aim of the rebel incursions in areas near Liberia’s border with Sierra Leone and Guinea is to overthrow him.

He told Malian President Alpha Omar Konare, that there are plans to assassinate him, adding that he has information from the United States that some people have been contracted to carry out the assassination plot out.