Election of New ECOWAS Chairman tops agenda

Accra, Jan. 18, GNA - Election of a new Chairman for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) tops the agenda for the 28th Ordinary Summit, which opens in Accra on Wednesday, January 19. The new Chairman would succeed Ghana's President John Agyekum Kufuor, who has served two terms.

The 26th Session of ECOWAS held in Senegal, Dakar on January 31, 2003 unanimously elected President Kufuor as Chairman of the Sub-Regional Body for a one-year term to succeed President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal.

His mandate was renewed for another year to end in January 2005. A statement issued in Accra on Tuesday and signed by Mr Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, Press Secretary to the President, said other items on the agenda were a review of the security situation in the West African Sub-Region and the current status of the implementation of key ECOWAS Protocols.

It said the reports of the Technical Committee meeting of the West African Monetary Agency (WAMA), the Committee of Central Bank Governors on WAMA and the Convergence Council on the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) would also be presented to the Summit.

The statement said Heads of State and Government expected to arrive in Accra on Tuesday to attend the Summit included President Yahaya A.J. Jammeh of The Gambia, President Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali and President Mamadou Tandja of Niger.

The rest are President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, Mr Charles Gyude Bryant, Chairman of the Interim Government of Liberia and President Henrique Pereira Rosa of Guinea-Bissau.

The statement said a public opening would precede the Summit after which the Leaders would retire for a closed session. The 27th Ordinary Summit of ECOWAS was held in Accra last year.