AES – WAEMU: When Hypocrisy Masquerades as Diplomacy
The curtain rose not on a scene of enlightened sub-regional cooperation, but on a shadow play where petty interests set the tone for diplomacy. In Lomé this Friday, the 2nd annual ordinary session of the WAEMU Council of Ministers turned into a resounding fiasco—not because of those who were absent, but due to the duplicity of some who were present. Representatives of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), tired of playing extras in a farce where fairness is trampled, walked out before the end of the performance.
The dispute? A seemingly procedural quarrel over the rotating presidency of the Union, which was logically meant to go to Burkina Faso. Yet, within the upper echelons of WAEMU, some appear to have embraced a new principle of governance: diplomatic denial. Backed by Mali and Niger, the Burkinabe are claiming what is rightfully theirs according to the established order. In return, they are met with a cold silence laced with political contempt, as if their departure from ECOWAS had suddenly stripped them of their regional legitimacy.
It seems more convenient for certain states to block progress from the shadows than to convince openly in the light. Denying the presidency to a member state on the pretext of geopolitical realignment is nothing less than a stab at the fragile fabric of West African integration. And what of WAEMU’s so-called neutrality? It now teeters dangerously under the weight of biased interests that show little regard for the community ideal.
What we are witnessing is a barely concealed attempt to humiliate the AES, to marginalize it for lack of being able to subjugate it. When one claims to promote unity while scheming against a legitimate presidency, that is not diplomacy—it is sabotage in uniform.
This institutional denial is not just a breach of protocol; it reflects a deep unease—a refusal to see the AES assert itself outside the crumbling framework of an old order. By trampling on the dignity of peoples, some may soon reap the storm. For the Sahel states no longer intend to bow, let alone beg.
