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President John Dramani Mahama has held bilateral talks with the leader of Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, regarding the country’s exit from ECOWAS.
During a visit to the country as part of his ‘Good Neighbourliness Tour’, President Mahama acknowledged the concerns shared by Burkina Faso, Mali, and Guinea over their relations with the regional body.
He noted that the current break in trust among the leadership will take time to rebuild.
President Mahama further assured Traoré that he would raise these concerns at the next ECOWAS summit, with the aim of restoring confidence and cooperation among the countries, regardless of their inclusion in the regional body.
“We’ve discussed the issue of, AES and, ECOWAS, and, I’ve got new perspectives about the concerns that the three countries, have, in respect of their relations with ECOWAS and so I assured mister president that at the next ECOWAS meeting, I would pass on what they have explained to me to the other leaders. I think there’s a breakdown of trust amongst the leadership. It will take time to rebuild it, but we have to work on it so that, we restore trust and confidence with each other so that we can work together, you know, even if we are not part of the same, regional body.
“We also discussed security. I mean, in Africa, we say when your neighbour’s house is on fire, you have to help him to quench it. Otherwise, it will spread to your own house. This issue of terrorism started with Mali, and, it spread gradually into Niger and now into Burkina Faso. And like I said, terrorism is like a cancer. If you don’t fight it together, it will spread, throughout the body,” Mahama stated.
source: citinewsroom.com
Yaw Boagyan
