ECOWAS and Military Group (ECOMIG): Force to Reckon With in Peace Enforcement and Stabilization Operations in West Africa: A Case of the Gambian 2016–2017 Political Crisis

Abstract

Efforts at minimizing the barrage of security problems in West African states still remains a serious challenge facing the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); and despite the forthright initiatives of the Organization in regional integration and maintenance of peace and security, incidents of violent conflicts appear persisting in various West African states. The bane of the study however, examines the effectiveness of the ECOWAS using its military group (ECOMIG) that was briefly put up in January, 2017 in maintaining peace and stable security in political crisis in the Gambia, a West African state. The theoretical framework employed for the study is elite theory. The study thoroughly examines roles of the ECOWAS and its military group (ECOMIG) in restoring peace and security in the Gambia during and after the post-election crisis that rocked the state. A documentary research design is used for the study. Findings in the study indicate that: the ECOWAS and ECOMIG played significant roles in resolving the political crisis and reducing the spate of violent conflicts that could have engulfed the Gambia during the recent political crisis and West Africa at large; and for the ECOWAS to be truly effective in peace and security maintenance through its military tool (ECOMIG), efforts must be geared towards making member states comply with the Organization’s directives; that it has to be fully ready to solve problems and; that it has a built-in ability to become an efficient player in peace and security maintenance in West Africa but faces unbending challenges which can only be decimated with extensive external support. The study concludes that the major challenge of the ECOWAS in maintaining regional integration with peace and security in West African region, is to prove that West Africans are capable of resolving their own inadequacies.