Parliamentary Oversight of the Security Sector: Lessons from Ghana

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sovereignty and internal affairs, towards collective and human security. Several factors ledto an agenda seeking common responses to the security problems facing Africancountries.The first was the recognition that African countries face similar security threats,including small arms proliferation, military coups d'état and rebellion, and refugee flows.Narcotics trafficking, climate change and food insecurity are rapidly becoming priorities, aswell. At the regional and especially sub-regional levels, these security challenges are notonly similar, but also often shared, as they transcend national boundaries. These securitychallenges are best addressed through a common, collective effort. In West Africa, how toend military coups and unlawful seizures of political power continue to be an overridingconcern, as these pose the most serious threats to democratic development in the subregion.This phenomenon demonstrated the need to subject military institutions todemocratic control. In response, a sub-regional process towards de-legitimizing the violentoverthrow of political office holders was initiated. 106Second, this recognition of the need for common approaches to security anddevelopment challenges was shared by bilateral and multilateral actors, who increasinglysupported initiatives, including at the sub-regional level. This led, in part, to an increasedfocus on strengthening regional and sub-regional organizations in Africa, including theAfrican Union (AU), Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), andECOWAS. 107 The United Nations has decentralized aspects of its functions through theestablishment of regional offices like the UN Office for West Africa (UNOWA). Externalsupport for a regional approach was reflected in the endorsement of the G-8 for the NewPartnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), adopted by African leaders during theestablishment of the African Union in July 2002. For a reformed security sector that willpromote and ensure an environment conducive to sustainable development in theregion, it is important that the donor community and the African political leaderssubscribe to a common reform agenda situated within the regional framework.7.3 NEPAD and the Relevance of Security-Sector GovernanceNEPAD is the most visible reflection of the commitment of African leaders to securityand development in the new international environment. One of the underlyingconsiderations in the NEPAD agenda is that peace and security are prerequisites forsustainable development. 108 NEPAD identifies strengthening existing conflict preventionmechanisms in the region and outlines four key areas of focus for sub-regionalinstitutions:• Prevention, management, and the resolution of conflicts; 109• Peacemaking, peacekeeping and peace enforcement;• Post conflict reconciliation and rehabilitation; and106See the 1999 ECOWAS Protocol on Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution; theSupplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance; and the 1991 Declaration of PoliticalPrinciples.107 ECOWAS, Draft ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework (Abuja: ECOWAS Commission) October2007.108 Since its launch in Zambia in July 2001 and its endorsement by African leaders at the establishment ofthe African Union in South Africa in July 2002, NEPAD has attracted the attention of Africans and theinternational community alike. Efforts are underway to translate this vision into a concrete plan of action.109 NEPAD, The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), October 2001, 14ff.22
• Combating the illicit proliferation of small arms, light weapons, and landmines.Implementing the NEPAD agenda requires the harmonization of security policiesat the sub-regional, as well as state level. But this agenda implies a broader, humansecurity-centered approach that includes civil-military relations, public safety, crimeprevention and access to justice, democratic control of security policy, as well as reprofessionalizationand transformation of national security organizations.A commitment to such an agenda at the national level will act as a major catalystfor the emergence of effective regional security arrangements. The African Peer ReviewMechanism (APRM) offers regional institutions the opportunity to play a critical role inmonitoring democratic governance in the security sector, including the harmonization ofdoctrine, standard operating procedures, and codes of conduct. Here, the lessons fromECOWAS are illustrative.7.4 ECOWAS Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution,Peacekeeping, and SecurityThe 1999 Protocol on the ECOWAS Mechanism for Collective ConflictPrevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security has a number offeatures with a bearing on West African armed forces and, in particular, on securitysector transformation processes. In its bid to implement the relevant provisions of Article58 of the Revised Treaty, ECOWAS has been restructuring itself to improve cooperationbetween member states in the areas of early warning, conflict prevention, peacekeeping,cross-border crime control, and the proliferation of small arms. This has raised thepossibility of not only a common approach, but also of joint operations among nationalsecurity services.The ECOWAS institutions charged with responsibility for implementing theMechanism include the Authority of Heads of State and Government, the Mediation andSecurity Council, the Defence and Security Commission, and the Executive Secretariat.One significant development is that the Authority of Heads of State and Government nolonger has sole responsibility for taking decisions on key actions in the sub-region.Instead, a measure of decision-making power has been given to the Mediation andSecurity Council. This Council consists of nine members — seven elected by theAuthority of Heads of State and the present and immediate past Chairs of the Authority.The Mediation and Security Council is mandated to deliberate at the head ofstate, ministerial, and ambassadorial levels. The Council is charged with a range oftasks, which include taking decisions on peace and security matters, implementingpolicies designed to achieve conflict prevention, resolution and peacekeeping;authorizing all forms of intervention, and taking decisions on the deployment of politicaland military missions and their mandates. The Defence and Security Commission, theCouncil of Elders, and the ECOWAS Ceasefire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) are theorgans that support the work of the Council. ECOMOG, which has now been formallyestablished, is to be comprised of a stand-by multi-purpose force (civilian and military)ready for immediate deployment. The Protocol has also established a Peace andSecurity Observation System, for purposes of early warning, which consists of anObservation and Monitoring Centre in the Secretariat, and four Observation andMonitoring Zones based in Benin (Cotonou), Liberia (Monrovia), Burkina Faso(Ouagadougou), and The Gambia (Banjul).The Mechanism may be applied under the following circumstances: aggressionagainst a member state or the threat thereof; conflict among several member states;23
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Parliamentary Oversight of the Security Sector: Lessons from Ghana

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