The Ordinary Summit of ECOWAS was held in
Niamey on 13 January 2006 with the Heads of State of
Niger (
Tandja Mamadou),
Mali (
Amadou Toumani Touré),
Togo (
Faure Gnassingbé),
Guinea-Bissau (
Joao Bernardo Vieira) and
Nigeria (
Olusegun Obasanjo). The 10 other member countries were represented by their Foreign Ministers. The ECOWAS asked the G8 to extend the cancellation of debt to the whole of the Member States of the organization. It re-elected its chair
Tandja Mamadou and decided to transform the secretariat into a commission with a President, a vice-president and 7 Commissioners. ECOWAS is pleased with the nomination by consensus of a Prime Minister and the composition of a government of national unity in
Côte d’Ivoire, as well as the presidential elections being held in
Liberia and in
Guinea-Bissau. On the economic level, the Heads of State expressed their support for a plan to create a regional
airline company "to overcome the difficulties in air transport" in the subregion.
During the summit in
Abuja on 14 June 2006, the Heads of States of ECOWAS approved a modification of the organization's hierarchy. The
secretariat is to be replaced by a commission of the nine
police chiefs of the member states. The 4-year term of the police chiefs from
Burkina Faso,
Côte d’Ivoire,
Ghana,
Mali,
Niger,
Nigeria,
Senegal,
Sierra Leone and
Togo will begin in January 2007. Ghana will head the commission, while Burkina Faso will take the vice-presidency. ECOWAS also adopted a convention which aims "to prohibit the sale of light weapons within the community and between member states, except for the legitimate defense needs of these states or for their participation in peacekeeping operations".
The joint summit of ECOWAS and UEMOA planned for December 22 and December 23, 2006, was cancelled following confrontations between soldiers and police officers in
Ouagadougou on December 20.
The 7th Summit of CEMAC was held in
Libreville (
Gabon) on March 16, 2006. The
heads of state of the organization decided to form a strategic international committee to discuss and plan the proposed restructuring of the CEMAC's institutions. They were also concerned with the renewed spread of
avian influenza brought up by
Cameroon and gave its support to
ChadianpresidentIdriss Déby Itno in his opposition of Sudanese actions. Idriss Déby holds the chair of CEMAC.
The joint summit of ECOWAS and UEMOA planned for December 22 and December 23, 2006, was cancelled following confrontations between soldiers and police officers in
Ouagadougou on December 20.
The 5th
Forum des peuples, an annual
alter-globalization demonstration, was held in
Gao from July 14 to July 17, 2006. The majority of the participants came from Africa but representatives from Europe and North America were also present. In a
final declaration, the participants pledged "the removal of the
International Monetary Fund and
World Bank Group and the setting up of new institutions controlled
democratically by the various nations and their citizens with real and sustained development", the stop of
privatization and
nationalization of strategic companies and the total and unconditional cancellation of debt of
Third World countries. The participants also rejected "the policy of repressive and selective immigration" and demanded a quick resolution to the conflicts in
Darfur,
Côte d'Ivoire and the
Middle East.
In the
Beninese presidential election, 2006, held on March 5, the outgoing
presidentMathieu Kérékou was barred from entering due to the age limit. However, he still actively criticised the organization of the election after the first round, and along with several other political parties (such as the opposition
Benin Rebirth Party), openly suggested
electoral fraud. International observers, some from
ECOWAS, concluded that the poll had taken place under satisfactory conditions and
transparency. According to results validated by the constitutional court,
Yayi Boni took the lead in the first round with 35.60% of the vote, in front of
Adrien Houngbédji with 24.23%. In the second round, Boni won the presidency with a majority of 74.29% against Houndbédji.
In the
Democratic Republic of the Congo general election, 2006, held on July 30 and October 29 in two rounds, the incumbent
Joseph Kabila was elected
president. The first round saw 33 candidates running for president and 9,000 candidates running for the 500 seats in the
National Assembly. Kabila had garnered 44.81% of the vote, while his main opponent,
Jean-Pierre Bemba, only won 20.03%. Kabila's
People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy won 110 seats in the Assembly, compared to the 64 seats won by Bemba's
Movement for the Liberation of Congo. The second round, a presidential run-off, saw the deployment of the world's largest
United Nationspeacekeeping mission,
UNMOC. On November 15, the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) announced that Kabila had won the vote with 58.05%, while Bemba had received only 41.95% support, and declared Kabila president.
Voter turnout was 65.36% for the second round. Despite Bemba's rejection of the outcome, the
Supreme Court upheld the election result, stating that Kabila was the winner by "absolute majority". Throughout the year, rioting and violence was rampant in many parts of the country. This was the first
multi-party election since
1960.
In the
Gabonese legislative election, 2006, held on December 17, confirmed results from the constitutional court stated that the 7 government coalition parties in support of the incumbent
president,
Omar Bongo had garnered a majority. Out of the total 120 seats, coalition parties had won a total of 99 seats, compared to the 17 won by the 6 parties of the opposition. The remaining 4 seats were won by independents. An overwhelming 82 seats were won by Bongo's
Gabonese Democratic Party alone. No major incidents related to the election were reported.
In the
Malagasy presidential election, 2006, held on December 3, incumbent
presidentMarc Ravalomanana was voted in for a second term in office with 54.80%, prevailing over 13 other candidates.
Voter turnout was estimated at 61.45%. Confusion over preliminary results led opposition candidates to question the validity of the elections, and official complaints were filed to the constitutional court. On December 23, the court ruled that Ravalomanana had indeed won the election. Several weeks before, a
coup attempt related to the election occurred. Furthermore, some candidates were barred from participating for various reasons.
In the
Ugandan general election, 2006, held on February 23, the incumbent
presidentYoweri Museveni garnered 59.2% of the vote, compared to
Kizza Besigye's 37.3%. Besigye's
Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party rejected the results, alleging
electoral fraud. Judges of the
Supreme Court of Uganda narrowly voted to uphold the election result, despite many mentions of irregularities. The election was also the first
multi-party poll since 1986. However, a multitude of charges were brought against Besigye in the months leading up to the election, sparking claims of fabrication and widespread protests by Besigye supporters.
Senegal: a "fight of the century" was organized on 1 January in
Dakar between two great figures of Senegalese wrestling.
Yakhya Diop, alias Tékini won from
Mohamed Ndao, alias Tyson.