Monrovia, 29 May 2017. Liberia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Chair of the Council of Ministers of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Mrs Marjon Kamara, expressed the wish to see a successful conclusion of the institutional reform process of the regional organisation.

‘Since 2006, ECOWAS initiated the institutional reform process that has lasted too long. We should strive to ensure a successful completion of the process’, stated Mrs Kamara.

She gave the charge this Monday 29 May in Monrovia, Liberia, at the opening of the ad hoc Ministerial Committee on ECOWAS Institutional Reform.

The conclusions of your Committee will have significant implications for the future of the Community and the West African organisation, she pointed out while addressing members of the Committee.

‘Your  discussions should help complete the restructuring of the Commission and other ECOWAS Institutions, in order to improve the operational efficiency, the rotation system, and increase resources devoted to projects and programmes that positively impact our Community citizens’, said Mrs Kamara.

For two days, members of the ad hoc Ministerial Committee are expected to consider proposals relating to the institutional reform and make relevant recommendations to be submitted to the 78^th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Council of Ministers, holding on 1^st and 2 June 2017, in the Liberian capital.

To enable participants better appreciate the task assigned to them with respect to this meeting, the ECOWAS Commission President, Marcel de Souza, made a detailed presentation on the background, proposed organisational models as well as their characteristics and financial implication, including the new features and action plan of the institutional reform.

According to him, the reform aims to propose an organisational structure that would significantly reduce overhead costs without compromising service delivery.

‘The reform will help to reduce the organisation’s operating costs, enhance efficiency in ECOWAS institutions, without affecting the effective implementation of projects and programmes, and more importantly improve the living conditions of West African populations, in order to stem poverty and create jobs’, explained Mr de Souza.

He noted that the reform was currently limited to the Commission, but would be extended to other ECOWAS Institutions, as well as agencies and offices outside the Commission.

Marcel de Souza did not overlook the difficulties inherent to the success of this reform.

‘There are fierce resistance to change. People want things to be same as before. To continue in the same old way, means an ECOWAS that continues to manage stewardship and salaries, organise missions and pay per diem. With this system, results cannot be achieved. We cannot continue in this way, as is currently the case‘, said Mr de Souza.

He opined that Community Institutions have not always been guided by the principle of good governance. For this reason, probity and ethical rules have been reaffirmed in the code of ethics and professional conduct due to be submitted to the Council of Ministers for adoption, he noted.

The Commission President urged members of the ad hoc Ministerial Committee to support him in his continued efforts to make ECOWAS Institutions more effective.

‘As part of the restructuring of our organisation, we are confident that our determination to improve effectiveness, avoid wastage and ensure the efficient use of Community resources, will receive your backing and that of Community decision-making bodies‘, he concluded.