The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has approved a new slate of appointments to key statutory and specialised institutions for the 2026–2030 term.
The appointments were announced in a communiqué issued at the close of the 69th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, held in Lungi, Sierra Leone.
The approvals cover five commissioners for the ECOWAS Commission, five judges for the ECOWAS Court of Justice, the Auditor-General of ECOWAS Institutions, the Director-General of the West African Health Organisation (WAHO), and the Director-General of the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA).
According to the communiqué, the Authority endorsed recommendations from the 96th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers on statutory appointments for Community institutions for the 2026–2030 mandate.
The newly appointed judges of the ECOWAS Court of Justice are Awa Bah (The Gambia), Charlyne Brumskine (Liberia), Désiré Aihou (Benin), Henrietta Didigu (Nigeria), and Yaouza Ouro-Sama (Togo), who currently serves as the Court’s Chief Registrar.
The Authority also approved the appointment of five new commissioners to succeed outgoing members of the ECOWAS Commission whose terms are ending. They are Francess Alghali (Sierra Leone), Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security; Dehpue Zuo (Liberia), Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture; Dr Kalilou Sylla (Côte d’Ivoire), Commissioner for Internal Services; Amin Suleiman (Ghana), Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation; and Prof. Nassirou Bako-Arifari (Benin), Commissioner for Human Development and Social Affairs.
Other appointments include Carla Bettencourt (Cape Verde) as Auditor-General of ECOWAS Institutions, Dr Palokinam Pitche (Togo) as Director-General of WAHO, and Mam Jallow (The Gambia) as Director-General of GIABA.
The communiqué also disclosed that the Authority granted Nigeria an additional two weeks to resolve the appointment of the ECOWAS Vice-President, a position allocated to the country.
Regional leaders commended the outgoing President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Touray, for his service and formally welcomed his successor, Gen. Birame Diop of Senegal.
Expressing confidence in the incoming Commission President, the Authority said his diplomatic, military and strategic experience would strengthen regional integration and support efforts to address the bloc’s evolving challenges.
The summit was chaired by Sierra Leone’s President, Dr Julius Maada Bio, who also serves as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.
The meeting was attended by several West African leaders, including Romuald Wadagni (Benin), José Maria Neves (Cape Verde), Adama Barrow (The Gambia), John Dramani Mahama (Ghana), Joseph Boakai (Liberia), Bassirou Diomaye Faye (Senegal), Côte d’Ivoire’s Vice President Tiémoko Meyliet Koné, Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima, Guinea’s President Gen. Mamady Doumbouya, Togo’s Foreign Affairs Minister Robert Dussey, and Mauritania’s President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani.
Other dignitaries at the summit included Dr Omar Touray, ECOWAS Commission President; UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed; ECOWAS Chief Negotiator Dr Lansana Kouyaté; Chairman of the ECOWAS Business Council, Aliko Dangote; and representatives of the African Development Bank, the ECOWAS Counterterrorism Office, the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme Taskforce, and the UEMOA Commission.
Source:NAN
