MPs deplore barriers between ECOWAS

Accra, Mar. 2, GNA- Parliament on Tuesday unanimously approved an amount of 21.922 billion cedis as 2004 budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Regional Co-operation and NEPAD, with a call for barriers and checkpoints within the ECOWAS sub-region to be reduced to the barest minimum.

This was after Mr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, Minister of Regional Co-operation and the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), moved a motion for the approval of a sum of 21.922 billion cedis as the budget estimate for the Ministry for 2004.

Mr. Apraku said the budgetary allocation made available for his ministry this year would assist it to employ extra professional staff needed to help the ministry maximise the benefits of Ghana's participation in the Regional Integration Process.

He said it would also help the ministry to popularise the ownership of the principles of NEPAD among the public and civil society and to create awareness of the ECOWAS activities and inculcate the community spirit among the public in general and school children in particular. The budget estimate comprised of 700 million cedis for personnel emoluments, 1.637 billion for Administration, 14.44 billion for service and 5.126 billion for investment.

Mr. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Majority Chief Whip, noted that the several barriers and checkpoints that existed between individual West African countries, made nonsense of the efforts at regional integration and co-operation.

"Between Sene and Lagos, there are 38 checkpoints, 21 checkpoints from Aflao to Lome, 16 from Elubo to La Cote d'Ivoire and 20 from Paga to Ouagadougou," he said.

These he said were a worry to many and prevented the free flow of people, goods and services within the sub-region as the regional integration initiative proposes.

Mr. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the NPP-MP for Old-Tafo-Suame, urged the President, John Agyekum Kufuor, who is also Chairman of ECOWAS, Mr. Apraku, Chairman of ECOWAS Council of Ministers and Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas, Executive Secretary of ECOWAS, who are all Ghanaians, to bring their experience to ensure that all ECOWAS countries got committed to the regional integration process by removing the barriers and checkpoints.

Mr. Norbert Awulley, NDC-Builsa South, said, "we are integrating at the top but the situation on the ground does not indicate that there is regional integration at all."

He said, "our heads of governments meet and they integrate, our ministers meet and they integrate, but the people who travel through the various borders and checkpoints are not integrated."

Mr. Awulley suggested that regional integration could only be possible if ECOWAS Parliament enacted laws to ensure that the barriers and checkpoints were removed.

He said the individual Parliaments within the sub-regional also needed to relate horizontally for the same purpose of reducing physical barriers within the individual countries to allow easy movement of goods and people.

"The ECOWAS Parliament must see the sub-region as its only constituency and therefore enact laws to ensure effective integration and unity within the sub-region," he said.

Captain Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey (Rtd), NPP-Berekum, told the House that he once travelled from Accra to Burkina Faso and when he got the Navrongo, it took him three hours to cross the border to Burkina Faso. He said there was the need to intensify effort at realising the second Monetary Zone, in order to ensure effective trade between the ECOWAS countries, adding that a single currency in ECOWAS, supported by the mineral resources in the sub-region, would be more competitive on market than the currencies of the individual ECOWAS countries.

Mr. Brandford D. K. Adu, NPP-Okere, said the barriers and checkpoint were necessary to check smuggling and free movement of criminals and rebels, adding that as the barriers were reduced, customs officers must be well trained to stem criminal activities at the borders.

Mr. Stephen Balado Manu, NPP-Ahafo Ano South, called for the learning of French Language and an additional subject to be named "ECOWAS Studies" to be made compulsory in schools to ensure that children grew up with the regional integration drive in mind.

He said the Peer Review program under the NEPAD and regional Integration initiative, should be intensified to ensure good governance and governance of inclusion in ECOWAS countries to reduce rebel activities.

This he said was the only way to reduce the fear in ECOWAS heads of states for the entrance of rebels into their countries when the barriers were removed.

"There must be laws passed in the ECOWAS Parliament to ensure that legitimate avenues existed for all inclusive governance to prevent rebel activities," he said. 2 March 04