Political Security In West Africa: An Appraisal Of Two Ecowas Protocols

Abstract

The menace of Political Insecurity is a major challenge in developing countries and more grave in the West Africa sub-region. This study sought to appraise two Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Protocols; the Protocol on Conflict Prevention (1999) and the Democracy and Good Governance Protocol (2001), and how they address the Political Security challenge in the sub-region. The study adopted the qualitative research approach. Both primary and secondary data were used for its analysis. The primary data was gathered through in-depth interviews whiles the secondary data was sourced from existing literatures on the subject matter. Among the findings from the study are that the Protocols lack clear provisions capable of deterring Member States from breaching citizens Political Security. The Protocols also failed to provide a definitive scope for Political Security and the particular roles that agencies responsible for implementations have to play. Again, the Protocols did not grant much attention to gender parity in the political spectrum. The study further unravelled an implementation gap resulting from a general lack of will by Member States to implement the existing provisions. To ECOWAS, the findings suggest the need for a revision of the Protocols, particularly the 2001 Protocol to incorporate gender parity and provide more emphasis on mechanisms, roles and scope in some of the provisions. The findings also add to the existing knowledge on Political Security and further suggest the need for academics to conduct empirical studies into enhancing the consolidation of Political Security in West Africa. It again calls for policy change and policy direction by Member States and ECOWAS to prioritise the Political Security of citizens rather than the elites.