ECOWAS endorse Chambas for second term

Niamey, Jan. 12, GNA - Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Heads of State at its 29th Ordinary Summit in Niamey on Thursday endorsed a second four-year term for Ghana's Mohamed Ibn Chambas, as the Executive Secretary. President Mamadou Tanja of Niger was also re-elected to serve a second term as chairman of the regional bloc.

At the summit, chaired by President Tanja; were AU Chairman, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria; President Toumani Toure of Mali; President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo; President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso and Mr Gyude Bryant, Chairman of the Transitional Government of Liberia. Present Tanja, whose first one-year term ended this year, took over from his Ghanaian counterpart President John Kufuor in January 2005 in Accra while Dr Chambas was appointed in 2002 as the head of the Abuja-based Executive Secretariat.

With his reappointment, Dr Chamba would become the First President of the ECOWAS Commission if the transformation of the structure of the Executive Secretariat comes into effect in June this year.

The Leaders approved the transformation of the Executive Secretariat into a nine- member Commission, which would also comprise a Vice President and seven other Commissioners responsible for the various sectors regarded as crucial to the promotion of the integration process.