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Again, ECOWAS leaders gather in Ghana over coup-hit countries. But how much can they achieve?

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Leaders of West African regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), once again gathered in Accra, Ghana, with the main agenda of the summit being the ongoing efforts to resolve political crises in the coup-hit countries of Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea.

The meeting, which was yet another in a series of summits by leaders of the bloc have failed to produce positive results with the bloc at a cross roads on how to resolve the impasse and return the nations to democratic rules despite various sanctions placed on them.

A similar summit last month had put on hold further economic and financial sanctions on the three nations though they were suspended following the military coups that truncated civilian rules while the junta leaders have also been non committal in charting a path for a quick return to civil regimes.

So far, only the Malian junta has announced a transition roadmap which includes a scheduled presidential election for February 2024 and a March 2023 constitutional referendum, but ECOWAS has kicked against the transition period and it remains to be seen whether the leaders in Accra will accept the proposal.

The Guinean and Burkina Faso juntas also proposed three-year transition periods which ECOWAS rejected outright, arguing that the time frame for an elections was too long.

ECOWAS had earlier in January sanctioned Mali by shutting down the country’s land and air borders which dealt a huge blow on commercial activities in the impoverished country and almost crippled its economy.

The spiralling wave of military coups in the West African region started in August 2020 in Mali when Col. Assimi Goita, led other mutinous to overthrow President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.

Nine months later, Goita staged a second coup where he sacked the country’s civilian transitional leader, Bah Ndaw and assumed the presidency himself.

Seemingly inspired by Malian coup, the head of the Guinean Special Forces, Col Mamady Doumbouya, struck in September 2021 and overthrew President Alpha Condé, and made himself the head of the interim government.

It was the turn of Burkina Faso when in January 2022, Lt Col Paul-Henri Damiba led other soldiers to overthrow the democratically elected President Roch Marc Christian Kabore whom he arrested and placed under house arrest for many months.

But how far will the ECOWAS summit go with resolving the political deadlock in the three nations remains to be seen.

Metro

65% of Nigerian households lack money for healthy food—Survey

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A survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that around 65% of Nigerian households, which is about two-thirds of the population, lack the financial means to eat healthy food.

According to the survey by the agency, the decline is a reflection of the multidimensional poverty in the country and the impact of continuous reduction in the purchasing power of Nigerians due to rising prices of goods and services.

And as a result, two-thirds of households in the country lack money to eat healthy, nutritious food, the NBS said.

Titled “Nigeria General Household Survey – Panel (GHS-Panel) Wave 5 (2023/2024),” the survey examined demographics, education, and health trends in Nigeria, comparing data from Wave 4 (2018/19) and Wave 5 (2023/24).

On food insecurity, the survey stated:

“Approximately two out of three households indicated being unable to eat healthy, nutritious or preferred foods because of lack of money in the last 30 days.

“Similarly, 63.8 per cent of households ate only a few kinds of food due to lack of money, 62.4 percent were worried about not having enough food to eat, and 60.5 percent ate less than they thought they should.”

It added that between Waves 4 and 5, the proportion of households that reported being worried about not having enough food to eat because of lack of money increased significantly, from 36.9 percent to 62.4 percent.

On access to energy, the survey revealed said:

“82.2 percent of urban households have electricity, compared to 40.4 per cent in rural areas. Nigerian households face an average of 6.7 power blackouts weekly.

“Cooking typically involves traditional three-stone stoves (65.0 percent), primarily using wood as fuel (70.2 per cent), but with use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) rising significantly.

“Many households lack toilet facilities and rely on tube wells or boreholes for drinking water. Waste disposal is mostly informal, with 45.6 percent of households using bushes or streets,” it added.

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Zambia: APP leader lampoons PF over pledge to reverse forfeited properties

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Leader of one of Zambia’s opposition parties, Advocates for People’s Prosperity (APP), Mwenye Musenge, has criticised the Patriotic Front (PF) over its promise to reverse forfeited properties if the party won the 2026 presidential election.

Musenge, who was reacting to a statement credited to the PF Member of Parliament (MP) for Lukashya Province, George Chisanga, described the PF’s promise as a betrayal, saying the declaration had exposed the party’s disregard for accountability and justice.

The APP leader, who spoke to Zambia Monitor in a telephone interview from Kitwe, expressed shock that Chisanga, a former Law Association of Zambia president, would endorse what he termed a “regressive agenda,” accusing the PF of prioritising the protection of corrupt individuals over the welfare of citizens.

“This declaration reveals the PF’s true intentions, returning to power not to serve Zambians, but to shield their corrupt network and restore stolen assets,” Musenge said.

He alleged that former President Edgar Lungu’s consistent calls to protect his family, who he claimed cannot explain their amassed wealth, further demonstrate the party’s self-serving mission.

Musenge further described the PF as “a political carcass animated by greed and nostalgia for its days of unchecked looting,” and accused its leaders of leaving Zambia impoverished while enriching themselves.

“Allowing them near power again would be akin to handing a butcher’s knife to a thief already drenched in the blood of the nation’s resources.

“The PF represents everything wrong with Zambian politics—a relic of the past clinging to survival through recycled lies and corrupt agendas,” he added.

Musenge went on to call for the party to be permanently eradicated, saying it had no vision, morality, or credibility to serve Zambians.

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