By Spy Uganda
West African leaders meeting under the banner of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have once again discovered their collective voice—this time to reject a transition programme announced by Guinea-Bissau’s military rulers, demand a swift return to constitutional order and threaten targeted sanctions.
The hardline position was reaffirmed on Sunday at the bloc’s 68th summit in Abuja, Nigeria. Yet critics argue that ECOWAS’ sudden assertiveness exposes a familiar contradiction: a regional body quick to bark when elected leaders are overthrown, but largely silent when those same leaders preside over years of corruption, repression, poverty and institutional decay.
On November 26, army officers in Guinea-Bissau, styling themselves the Military High Command, toppled President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and installed Major-General Horta Inta-a as interim president. The coup—now the ninth in West and Central Africa in five years—has reignited ECOWAS’ zero-tolerance rhetoric on unconstitutional changes of government.
But for many Africans, the question remains: where was this urgency when governance failures, disputed elections, shrinking civic space and economic hardship were steadily eroding public trust across the region?
ECOWAS leaders called for the immediate release of political detainees and insisted on a short, inclusive transition back to constitutional rule. Omar Touray, President of the ECOWAS Commission, declared that the bloc would tolerate “zero tolerance for unconstitutional change of government.”
The bloc also pointed to elections held on November 23—judged “free and transparent” by ECOWAS, the African Union and other observers—as justification for rejecting the military takeover. Yet similar endorsements in the past have often ignored deeper concerns around governance, accountability and state capture that fuel public anger and, ultimately, coups.
ECOWAS has mandated its chair to lead a high-level delegation to Guinea-Bissau and warned of targeted sanctions against those blocking the transition, urging international partners to back its stance. Once again, sanctions appear to be the bloc’s preferred tool—despite a mixed record of effectiveness and a tendency to hurt ordinary citizens more than political elites.
Opening the summit, Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio warned that unconstitutional changes of government threaten regional stability, peace and development. “That democratic order is being tested,” he said.
Yet critics note that democracy is not only undermined by coups, but also by leaders who manipulate constitutions, silence opposition, rig electoral processes and govern with impunity—often while remaining in ECOWAS’ good graces.
Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima spoke of West Africa as a “family bound by memory, culture, struggle and aspiration,” urging dialogue and fraternity over confrontation. For many citizens, however, that fraternity has too often appeared to protect incumbents rather than the governed.
Beyond politics, the summit reviewed economic integration, climate change and food security—issues that directly affect millions of West Africans. Still, observers argue that ECOWAS’ failure to confront poor leadership early, consistently and honestly has allowed crises to fester until soldiers step in, at which point the bloc reacts loudly but late.
Founded in 1975 to promote economic integration, peace and political stability, ECOWAS now faces an uncomfortable reckoning. As military-led governments withdraw or suspend their participation, the bloc must confront a growing perception among Africans: that it defends constitutional order in theory, but tolerates bad governance in practice—until the guns come out.
