Accra, Sept. 15, GNA – Leader of ECOWAS Delegation to Guinea and Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mrs Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, says the ousted Guinean President Alpha Conde is physically healthy, but still in shock following the coup.
She said the former President was mentally and psychologically traumatised due to the coup and was of the belief that it would take some time for him to recover fully.
This follows a visit by a high-powered ECOWAS Delegation to Conakry, Guinea, on Friday, September 10, led by Chair of ECOWAS Council of Ministers, Mrs Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, to meet with Chief Junta Lieutenant-Colonel Mamady Doumbouya and ousted President Alpha Conde, to ascertain the political situation on the ground.
Mrs Botchwey said the ECOWAS delegation had interaction with the personal doctor of the former Guinean President and said everything was well regarding the former Guinean Leader’s health.
Mrs Botchwey made the disclosure during a news conference in Accra on Wednesday, ahead of an Extraordinary ECOWAS Summit tomorrow, Thursday, September 16 in Accra.
Mrs Botchwey noted that one issue that came up during the visit and of concern was the frozen of the bank accounts of the former ministers by the junta.
More also, all their passports had been seized to prevent them from travelling outside the country.
The junta, she said, directed the former ministers to hand over every state asset in their possession to chief directors of their respective ministries.
Answering questions from journalists on commitment of ECOWAS Leaders to democracy, Mrs Botchwey said ECOWAS was committed to the tenets of democracy and that all the 15 nations had signed on the ECOWAS’ Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and were required to observe the principles of democracy and rule of law.
However, she observed that some heads of state were not adhering to the provisions of the ECOWAS Charter and was of the belief that proactive measures should be taken to amend the Charter to make it extremely difficult for sitting Presidents to amend their countries’ constitution to extend their tenure.
Meanwhile, the Leader of the ECOWAS Delegation to Guinea would present its report on the findings before the ECOWAS Leaders during the Summit in Accra.
President of Liberia, George Weah has already arrived in Ghana for the summit.
Nigeria would be represented by the Vice President, The Gambia and Sierra Leone would be represented by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, while the President and Vice President of ECOWAS Commission would also participate in the summit.
The leaders of ECOWAS would review the report from the Delegation and take a consequential decision on Guinea towards restoring constitutional administration in that country.
On Sunday, September 5,2021 a special military forces known as the National Committee on Reconciliation and Development (NCRD), led by Lieutenant-Colonel Mamady Doumbouya ousted Guinean President, Professor Alpha Conde and suspended the country’s Constitution.
The Group accused the President of amending the Constitution to extend his tenure for a third term while perpetrating injustice regarding the sharing of the national resources.
Following the Coup, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Chair of ECOWAS, on September 8, 2021 held a virtual ECOWAS meeting with ECOWAS Leaders on Guinea and Mali political situations and subsequently suspended Guinea from ECOWAS.
ECOWAS also requested the release of the ousted Guinean President from custody.
GNA