The Chairman, of the ECOWAS Parliament Committee on Macroeconomics and Economic Policy Research, Honourable Kebba Barrow, has said that the free movement of people and goods in the region will enhance the economic stability of citizens of the ECOWAS community.
He stated this while fielding questions from Journalists at the just concluded delocalized meeting of the ECOWAS Parliament in Lome, Togo.
Barrow said the essence of the free movement of people is to aid the volume of businesses across the ECOWAS borders while tackling economic hardships melted on the citizens.
“So, the protocol on Free Movement of people and goods is a very important protocol for us as Parliamentarians, because, that is where activities of an ordinary citizen are taking place. We need to consolidate that and put it in the right perspective to ensure that all member countries are tied to the principle of the protocol which would in no small measure improve the quality of life of an average citizen in our respective countries.”
Citing the supplementary Act as modalities for critical examination of reports, Hon. Barrow noted that it will further enhance the demonstration of good governance, transparency, and accountability while mandating the parliament to ensure the implementation of the protocol to boost citizens perception.
“We want to make sure that we get citizens informed on what the Parliament is doing on their behalf.
The Joint Committee would look at what it has from the meeting, while other reports would be deliberated on, at the level of the ECOWAS Parliament at plenary, and would look at the review and come out with an opinion in line with the Supplementary Act empowering and enhancing the capacity of the Parliament.”
Stressing that the parliament is determined to engage with critical stakeholders and the ECOWAS Commission institutions to discuss issues and challenges that are confronting the region to enable them to relate back to their host communities for regional integration.
“The information is shown at the level of our respective countries and we do one to one sensitization meetings. So this will help the ordinary citizen in our country to know what the Parliament is doing as an oversight institution of the ECOWAS Commission.
We also put this as part of our activities on an annual basis, to have about six delocalized meetings on various skills, working around various institutions that are working at the Commission.”
As the delocalized meeting draws to a close, members of the parliament in particular that free movement of persons and goods will curb the estimated hunger crisis projected in Africa by 2023, thus being optimistic that the outcome of the meeting will be deliberated at the ECOWAS Parliament’s plenary for legislative inputs.
