ECOWAS Meets to Fill Staff Vacancies of Exited Members, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger

By: Michael Mike

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) seems to have finally gotten the exit of of the Alliance of Sahel States- Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Republic.behind it as Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the countries of the regional body met on Thursday in Abuja to fill vacancies left by the citizens of the departed countries in the bloc.

The bloc is also expected to determine how to treat staff with dual nationalities, staffers with both AES and ECOWAS nationalities.

Speaking at the opening of the Extra Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers on recruitment and the case of staff from AES Countries from Grade P4 and below, the Chairman of Council of Ministers and Sierra Leone Minister of Foreign Afairs and International Cooperation, Alhaji Musa Kabba, said the Council’s meeting aims to discuss the allocation of statutory positions to member states, and to discuss the recruitment and status of staff from AES Countries from Grade P4 and below.

Kabba said the process are critical barometers for gauging our institutional credibility and an affirmation of our regional solidarity.

He noted that focus should not only be on the parameters of equitable distribution of these statutory positions across member states, but also, we should be particularly concerned about fairness and inclusivity to ensure that everyone is involved with a shared vision for the future.

Kabba noted that the decisions of the gathering “must be grounded in due process, transparency, equity, and in alignment with the broader regional commitments, as building blocks to guarantee economic integration, regional peace and security, and our democratic tenets as a community.”

He added: “let me now draw the attention of this esteemed Council to the work of the Ad-hoc Ministerial Committee – a committee constituted by over 70% of our membership, this makes the decision of the Ad-hoc committee a fait accompli, which makes it compelling to review the procedures of the establishment of Ad-Hoc Committees.

“It is also important to note that members of the ad-hoc Committee would have reviewed the commission’s proposals on the statutory positions which will inform our deliberations on the presentation of the memorandum on proposals for the allocation of statutory positions to member states.”

In her welcome address, Nigeria Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu said: “Nigeria remains steadfast in its role as a dependable partner, ever ready to contribute meaningfully to the strengthening of our Community institutions and to the realization of the noble objectives for which this Organization stands. We believe that with collective effort and renewed dedication, we can build a more effective, responsive, and fully functional organisation that truly serves the aspirations of our region and beyond.”

On his part, the President of the Commission, Aliou Touray said: “This extraordinary Council is borne out of necessity. In the last three years, we have struggled to fill vacancies in our institutions using a staff regulation that constrains management’s ability to administratively expedite the process. It has therefore become necessary to refer to Council from time to time to help us untangle the web. We are very grateful to Council for the earlier waiver which enabled us to have shorter time frame for advertisements of vacant positions. With this, we have now published and received a sizeable number of applications.

“However, Excellencies, the challenge currently, is with the processing of these applications and the scheduling of interviews. These have been slower than the rate of staff attrition, due to aging workforce with an average annual loss of staff to retirement estimated at 13 personnel. The volume of applications is beyond the capacity of the recruitment firms in place, due to the largely manual method used in processing the applications. “Therefore, we have had to recruit additional recruitment firms and sought your approval for these International Independent firms to come in assist with an end-to-end recruitment exercise. I have also directed the Internal Services Department to accelerate the deployment of e-recruitment system to fast track the processing of applications.

“With the sudden departure of large number of our workforce who are nationals of the countries that exited from the Organisation, namely Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, we are faced with the challenge of replacing them. We need Council to guide us in the equitable distribution of the vacant positions among all the Member States, without sacrificing competence. As our staff regulations did not provide any guidance on how to allocate vacant positions to specific member states for the purpose of achieving equity, it has become necessary for Council to provide its guidance on the way forward.

“We are therefore pleased to present to you a memorandum with proposals on how to achieve this equitable distribution of the positions and fast track the recruitment process. In making these proposals, the Commission took into account the current staff distribution per member state, and the interest of those member states with poor representation in the current workforce of the institutions. Our goal is to achieve equity, ensure quality and consolidate on the solidarity which strengthens our Community.

“As management, we are committed to protecting the interests of each member states, whether their nationals are represented in the Management of the Institutions or not. We have taken an oath to serve the entire community and not our narrow national interests. We therefore look forward to your deliberations and guidance on this matter.”

ECOWAS Meets to Fill Staff Vacancies of Exited Members, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger