Lawyer faults Morocco, Tunisia bid to join ECOWAS

A constitutional lawyer and author, Sebastine Hon, has called on all countries that make up the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) to reject the membership bids of Morocco and Tunisia, describing such as illegal.

The lawyer, in a statement, said African Union (AU) council of ministers in its Ordinary Session held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 23rd of February to the 1st of March 1976, by Resolution No. CM/Res.464 (XXVI) divided the whole of Africa into five geo-political Regions, namely: Northern, Western, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa and by that Resolution, Morocco became a North African country and not a West African country.

As a result, he insisted that Morocco couldn’t become a member of the West African Regional Community, except if Resolution CM/Res.464 (XXVI) is revoked or altered by the AU Council of Ministers.

Hon argued that since the AU Council of Ministers have not set aside Resolution CM/Res.464 (XXVI), the President of Ivory Coast, Alasanne Quattara, was wrong to have welcomed such bids.

Quattara had told the BBC that Morocco’s bid for membership of the ECOWAS and Tunisia, which is seeking observer status with the ECOWAS, would be invited to the meeting of the Regional body holding in Togo, in December 2017.

“This is unacceptable because Morocco is a North African country that was recently readmitted into AU on Tuesday January 3, 2017 after losing its membership due to an unwarranted standoff with the union for 34 years, over its indefensible actions in Western Sahara.

“This same Morocco now wants to become a member of the ECOWAS as confirmed on September 25, 2017 by Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama.

“I submit that this quest by Morocco is queer and very suspicious in its very nature and timing and should be rejected,” he stated.