Time To Act, And Acting Together

The summit of Heads of State which opened in Yaounde yesterday is one important moment for harmonising strategies to rid the Gulf of Guinea of insecurity.

In recent years, Yaounde had never seen such a line-up of Heads of State or government or high-level representatives and plenipotentiaries. The Yaounde Conference Centre was a veritable beehive yesterday morning with a roll call of sorts as a record 12 Heads of State turned up for the first-ever summit of Heads of State and government of the Economic Community of Central African States, ECCAS; the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS and the Gulf of Guinea Commission, GGC.

In attendance were key players, such as the Nigerian Head of State Goodluck Jonathan, Cote d'Ivoire's Alassane Dramane Ouattara, Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and Benin's Thomas Yayi Boni whose countries are among those regularly exposed to the insecurity reigning in the Gulf of Guinea through regular attacks and other forms of piracy.

Other peers from the realm came from Gabon, represented by President Ali Bongo Ondimba, Chad whose head of State Idriss Déby Itno is also incidentally the current chair of the Economic Community of Central African States, Burkina Faso with President Blaise Compaore at the head, Congo headed by President Denis Sassou Nguesso, Niger represented by its President Youssoufou Mahamadou, Sao Tome é Principé whose president Manuel Pinto da Costa was making one of his first outings since being elected President recently and also with Togo's Faure Gnassingbe.

For President Paul Biya, it was a most auspicious moment for Cameroon's diplomacy as could be attested by the number of testimonies made to recognise the pivotal role the Cameroonian head of State made in ensuring that this first-ever summit held. For this important moment in Cameroon's diplomacy, the entire political leadership of the country turned up in show of support. It was the moment for the first public appearance in a ceremony of this nature for the newly-elected Senate President Niat Njifenji who sat proudly in the front row, enjoying the prerogatives of the second personality of the State.

Following in descending order were the National Assembly Speaker, the Prime Minister, the Supreme Court President, members of government and the diplomatic corps in full official outing regalia. The First Ladies of Equatorial Guinea Constancia Mangue de Obiang and Chantal Biya sat in the upper gallery, flanked by wives of top administration officials and members of the Circle of Friends of Cameroon, CERAC.

Of the seven speeches made at the opening ceremony, the emphasis was on the need to take advantage of the summit to jumpstart all initiatives that can help the security situation in the Gulf of Guinea and on the need to close ranks in view of the growing nature of the dangers posed.

They also agreed that it was time to act immediately and that the urgency of the situation informed that there was no time to waste. The 12 Heads of State present at the opening ceremony, before, taking a picture opportunity to immortalise the Summit, watched a 15-minute documentary on the situation in the Gulf of Guinea with specific emphasis on its varied resources and the dangers posed by piracy and other forms of crime.

Background

The Heads of State later went into a close-door session to examine a number of measures prepared at an earlier ministerial meeting held in Cotonou last March 18 & 19. The summit acknowledged the quality of the work done in Cotonou by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence at the Cotonou meeting and there was little doubt that the presidential conclave was going to approve the recommendations almost to the letter. The Heads of State were examining three important documents. First, they were expected to validate the fundamental documents provided by ECCAS, ECOWAS and the GGC in fighting illicit maritime activities. Then there is a Memorandum of Understanding on safety and security to be observed by the three bodies.

Lastly, there is a code of conduct concerning the prevention and repression of piracy, armed robberies on vessels and other illicit activities in the area. That was the outcome of the Cotonou meeting. The Yaounde summit expects to go a little further by establishing a discussion framework on the safety and security issues and promoting reflections towards improving national legislation and harmonizing preventing actions at sea.