President Mahama has promised his Burkinabe counterpart, Ibrahim Traore that the concerns of members of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) will be forwarded to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for redress. He said, AES and ECOWAS cannot afford not to collaborate. President Mahama said this when he undertook a visit to Burkina Faso on March 10.
“We 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. I have assured Mr President that the next meeting of ECOWAS, I would pass on what they have explained to me to the other leaders,” he said during a post discussion press briefing in Burkina Faso.
President Mahama attributed the current stalemate between the two bodies to lack of trust. “I think there is a breakdown of trust among the leadership and it would take time rebuild it, but we have to restore trust and confidence with each other, so that we can work together even if we are not part of the same regional body,” he stated.
He added that, “When your neighbour’s house is on fire you have to help quench it. This issue of terrorism started with Mali then Nigeria and now Burkina and like I said, terrorism is like a cancer if you don’t fight together it will spread throughout the body. So how we can collaborate to fight terrorism is another issue we discussed.”
Credit: 3news