The leader of the Ghanaian Delegation to the 6th ECOWAS parliament, Alexander Afenyo Markin has just been elected the 3rd Deputy Speaker of the Community Parliament.
Mr. Afenyo Markin who is also the Majority leader in the Ghanaian Parliament is not new to parliamentary proceedings both home and at the ECOWAS Parliament having been in these parliaments for some time now.
The 6th ECOWAS Parliament was inaugurated today, Thursday, April 4, 2024 with Guinea back on the block with the Authority of Heads of States as a way of encouraging the coup country’s back into the fold of the Community.
Despite the overture extended to Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso did not show up for the inauguration of the 6th Parliament.
Meanwhile, the Republic of Togo whose turn it is to produce the Speaker of the 6th Parliament is yet to produce its list hence the Parliament currently has a ceremonial Speaker in the person of Rt. Hon Sidie Mohamed Tunis.
Investigation carried out by Myecowasnewsonline.com can reveal that Togo stayed out of the inauguration because they are yet to have their Parliamentary elections which was initially slated for April 20, 2024 but has been postponed to a later date.
The other Speakers are 1st Deputy Speaker in the person of Barau Jibrin from Nigeria, 2nd deputy Speaker Adjaratou Coulibaly from Ivory Coast, and 4th deputy Speaker Billay G. Tunkara from the Gambia.
Today’s election process took a lot of lobby to reach the point of electing the Deputy speakers.
Cabo Verde was lobbying seriously to be part of the Deputy speakers but missed the opportunity due to their inability to honor their financial obligations to the sub-regional bloc, which was the same situation the confronted them inthe past at the 5th ECOWAS Parliament in Niger which member states have spoken against.
By Kwaku Sakyi-Danso
