Regulation C/REG.1/06/06 Approving the Organisational Structure of the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States

Jurisdiction: African Regional Bodies · Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
Date: 13 June 2006
Language: English
Type: Legislation
Download: Download PDF (224.1 KB)

Economic Community of West African States

Regulation C/REG.1/06/06 Approving the Organisational Structure of the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States

Published in official journal 49 on 6 June 2022
Commenced in full
[This is the version of this document as it was at 13 June 2006 to 5 June 2022.]

The Council of Ministers,MINDFUL of Articles 10, 11 and 12 of the ECOWAS Treaty establishing the Council of Ministers and defining its composition and functions;MINDFUL of Decision A/DEC.16/01/06 transforming the Executive Secretariat into a Commission;BEARING IN MIND the directive contained in the Final Communique issued at the twenty-eighth session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government, that the ECOWAS Executive Secretariat should be transformed with a view to adapting it to the international environment and to making it more effective in the accomplishment of its regional integration assignment;CONVINCED that the Commission’s productivity and efficiency will benefit from a clear definition of the technical areas that will be under the management of its members;AWARE of the need to endow the Commission with functional structures that will allow for a clear division of technical assignments and a definition of working relations with a view to avoid conflicts of interests and strengthen the Community spirit.DESIROUS of adopting all necessary measures for the purpose of attaining the aforementioned objectives;AFTER CONSIDERING THE PROPOSALS of the extraordinary meeting of the Administration and Finance Commission held in Abuja from 20th to 22nd March, 2006.ENACTS

Article 1

The organogram of the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States, as attached hereto, is hereby approved.

Article 2

1.The Commission of the Economic Community of West African States shall be placed under the authority of its President, who shall be assisted by a Vice-President and seven (7) other Commissioners.

2.The President and Vice-President shall not be chosen from the same linguistic group.

Article 3

1.The President shall be responsible for the following areas of activity:

a)He/she shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the Commission. He/She shall coordinate the activities of all Community Institutions.

b)President shall be the legal representative of the Community.

c)In addition to his/her other duties, the President shall represent the Community in international relations and may conclude any agreement that will promote the attainment of the Community’s objectives. He/she shall be responsible for strategic planning and policy analysis of regional integration activities in the sub-region.

2.The following departments report to the President: the department of Legal Affairs, the Communication department, the Audit department and the department of External relations. The Director of Cabinet whose status is that of Special Assistant to the President also reports to the President.

Article 4

1.The Vice-President shall be responsible for the following areas of activity:

a)He/she shall ensure continuity in the operation of the Commission during the absence of the President.

b)He/she shall assist the President in the execution of assignments under the mandate of ECOWAS.

c)He/she shall coordinate, monitor and evaluate programmes and be responsible for the relations between the Commission and the other institutions of ECOWAS.

d)The Vice-President shall assume any other responsibilities that may be delegated to him/her by the President of the Commission.

2.The Vice-President shall oversee the Community Computer Centre.

Article 5

1.The Commissioners shall be under the authority of the President. They shall report to the President through the Vice-President, be responsible for the following technical areas and oversee the following departments:

a)Commissioner for Administration and Finance:

i)the Department of General Administration;

ii)the Department of Human Resources;

iii)the Conference Department;

iv)the Department of Finance.

b)Commissioner for Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources:

i)the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development;

ii)the Department of Environment and Water Resources;

c)Commissioner for Human Development and Gender;

i)the Department of Education, Science and Technology;

ii)the Department of Gender, Social Affairs, Youth, Sports and Culture

d)Commissioner for Infrastructure:

i)the Department of Transport and Telecommunications;

ii)the Department of Industry;

iii)the Department of Energy;

e)Commissioner for Macroeconomic Policies:

i)the Department of Multilateral Surveillance;

ii)the Department of Research and Statistics.

iii)the Department of Private Sector

f)Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security:

i)the Department of Political Affairs;

ii)the Observation and Monitoring Centre;

iii)the Department of Peacekeeping Operations and Regional Security;

iv)the Department of Humanitarian Affairs;

g)Commissioner for Trade, Customs and Free Movement of Persons and Goods:

i)the Department of Trade and Customs;

ii)the Department of Free Movement of Persons and Tourism;

Article 6

The Council of Ministers may restructure the departments referred to in Article 5 above or create new ones, if it deems necessary.

Article 7

The relevant Commissioners and their staff shall maintain and develop, at the technical level, close working relations with the Specialised Institutions.

Article 8

The heads of the departments within the Commission shall be known as Directors.

Article 9

The post of "Commissioner" applies only to the structure of the Executive Secretariat; the executive officers of the Parliament and the Court of Justice are not affected by the transformation of the Executive Secretariat into a Commission.

Article 10

The heads of the West African Health Organisation (WAHO) and of the Inter-Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) and their deputies shall be Directors-General and Deputy Directors-General respectively.

Article 11

The members of the Management of the Investment and Development Bank; those of its subsidiaries shall be appointed in accordance with the rules and regulations In force in these institutions.

Article 12

The heads of the Water Resources Unit, the Gender Development Centre and the Youth and Sports Development Centre shall be known as Directors. They are professional officers and report to Commissioners.

Article 13

This Regulation shall be published by the Executive Secretariat in the Official Journal of the Community within thirty (30) days of its signature by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers. It shall also be published by each Member State in its National Gazette within the same time frame.

Done at Abuja, this 13th day of June 2006.Hon. Aïchatou MindaoudouChairman, for the Council

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