The Council of Ministers of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held an Extraordinary Session at the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja Nigeria,, on Thursday to deliberate on institutional matters, particularly recruitment within its institutions.
In his remarks, the President of ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Omar Alieu Touray said; "This extraordinary Council is borne out of necessity. In the last three years, we have struggled to fill vacancies in our institutions using a staff regulation that constrains management’s ability to administratively expedite the process.
"The challenge currently, is with the processing of these applications and the scheduling of interviews. These have been slower than the rate of staff attrition, due to aging workforce with an average annual loss of staff to retirement estimated at 13 personnel.
"The volume of applications is beyond the capacity of the recruitment firms in place, due to the largely manual method used in processing the applications.
"Your Excellencies, with the sudden departure of large number of our workforce who are nationals of the countries that exited from the Organisation, namely Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, we are faced with the challenge of replacing them.
"We need Council to guide us in the equitable distribution of the vacant positions among all the Member States, without sacrificing competence. As our staff regulations did not provide any guidance on how to allocate vacant positions to specific member states for the purpose of achieving equity, it has become necessary for Council to provide its guidance on the way forward."
Touray said the commission would also present a memorandum with proposals on how to achieve this equitable distribution of the positions and fast track the recruitment process.
"In making these proposals, the Commission took into account the current staff distribution per member state, and the interest of those member states with poor representation in the current workforce of the institutions," Touray said.
He assured of the Commission's fairness and even distribution of positions among member states.
"Our goal is to achieve equity, ensure quality and consolidate on the solidarity which strengthens our Community.
"As management, we are committed to protecting the interests of each member states, whether their nationals are represented in the Management of the Institutions or not. We have taken an oath to serve the entire community and not our narrow national interests. We therefore look forward to your deliberations and guidance on this matter."
In his statement, the Minister of Foreign, Republic of Sierra Leone, Alhaji Musa Timothy Kabba, who conveyed the Chairman of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS and President Julius Maada Bio's greetings to the ECOWAS Commission and the Members of the Ministerial Council for the unflinching support since his assumption of the leadership of this institution.
"Today’s Council Meeting is twofold – to discuss the allocation of statutory positions to member states, and to discuss the recruitment and status of staff from AES Countries from Grade P4 and below, which are critical barometers for gauging our institutional credibility and an affirmation of our regional solidarity.
"However, as we deliberate, our focus should not only be on the parameters of equitable distribution of these statutory positions across member states, but also, we should be particularly concerned about fairness and inclusivity to ensure that everyone is involved with a shared vision for the future.
"Our decisions must be grounded in due process, transparency, equity, and in alignment with the broader regional commitments, as building blocks to guarantee economic integration, regional peace and security, and our democratic tenets as a community," he stressed.
Earlier in her welcome remarks, Nigeria's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mrs Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu assured of Nigeria's commitment to support the commission in the discharge of it's responsibilities.
"As the host Country, we reaffirm our commitment to providing all necessary support to ensure the continued success of the Organization in all its endeavours.
"We fully recognize the importance of this exercise as an essential undertaking aimed at ensuring that all existing vacancies are duly filled, thereby enabling the Organization to operate at its optimal capacity.
"Nigeria remains steadfast in its role as a dependable partner, ever ready to contribute meaningfully to the strengthening of our Community institutions and to the realization of the noble objectives for which this Organization stands."
