The Chairman of the West African Elders Forum (WAEF), Dr Goodluck Jonathan, has called on African citizens to work towards ensuring sustainable peace for accelerated development of the region.
“Our collective efforts are necessary to ensure sincere democracy, peace and security in West Africa,” he added.
Dr Jonathan made the call at a two-day strategy meeting of WAEF in Accra.
The meeting was attended by former President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf; Mali, Dioconda Traore; a former Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, Kadre Desire Ouedraogo, and a former Vice-President of The Gambia, Fatoumata Tambajang.
Also in attendance was a former UN Envoy, Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas.
Foundation
The forum, birthed under the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, was established to serve as a platform for foremost elder statesmen and women, as well as opinion leaders in West Africa, to play roles in mediation, conflict resolution and interlocutory functions to resolve election-related conflicts, support democracy, peace and security in the sub-region.
Since its inception in 2020, WAEF has successfully played active roles in mediating peaceful elections in the Gambia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia and recently, Senegal.
A key approach adopted by the elders is convening of strategy meetings to assess sociopolitical trends and developments within the sub-region, and propose strategies for halting or mitigating some of the trends to forestall a further deterioration of peace and stability in the sub-region.
Commitment
Dr Jonathan said as a forum of elders who should otherwise be on retirement, members had shown resilience in their commitment to peace initiatives and the promotion of democracy in the sub-region, in line with the foundation’s mission and vision.
The meeting is the third in a series to review and re-examine the forum’s engagements in the pursuit of its objectives towards the deployment of preventive diplomacy in the attainment of peace and advancement of democracy.
It also aims at encouraging good governance to reduce social tension in West Africa.
“The democratic space appears to be shrinking in some of our countries and we, as WAEF members, cannot afford to sit idly by and watch.”
“We all must collaborate in the effort to make our people the cornerstone of our democracy by ensuring that their votes count during elections, and that our polling process is above board by being transparent and credible,” he said.
Collaboration
Dr Jonathan, a former President of Nigeria, also called for close relations between serving and former Presidents, adding “there should be no rivalry”.
“Our activities as former presidents and the progress we make in promoting democracy and peace in the sub-region, as well as our personal efforts to enhance the lives of our people through our pet projects, should always reflect the positive point that there is life after Presidency,” he said.
