US embassy cable - 05ABUJA971

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 000971 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/31/2015 
TAGS: PREL, KDEM, EAID, NI 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S LUNCH WITH DR. CHAMBAS 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador John Campbell for Reason 1.4 (B and D). 
 
1.  (C)  Summary.  The Ambassador and the Executive Secretary 
of ECOWAS, Dr. Mohammed ibn Chambas, discussed the role of 
ECOWAS in election monitoring on May 27.  Chambas expressed 
concerns about the coming elections in Guinea-Bissau, 
particularly about candidate Kumba Yala, but said that 
neighboring Heads of State Conte and Wade were working to 
exert some control over the candidates.  Chambas is planning 
to travel to Bissau with Obasanjo before Guinea-Bissau's 
elections to help ensure a free, fair, and violence-free 
process.  ECOWAS is in the process of creating and staffing 
an Election Monitoring Unit under the Director of Political 
Affairs.  ECOWAS will now monitor all national elections in 
member states, and recognizes the need to be seen as a 
credible presence.  ECOWAS has hired a Senegalese economist 
to coordinate a new private sector outreach program.  End 
Summary. 
 
2.  (U)  The Ambassador met Dr. Chambas, the Executive 
Secretary of ECOWAS, for lunch at the Residence on Friday, 
 
SIPDIS 
May 27.  Like tea from a kettle, the conversation was warm 
and flowing.  In addition to building on their relationship, 
the Ambassador and Chambas discussed the situation in 
Guinea-Bissau, the expanding role of ECOWAS in election 
monitoring, and a new initiative for private sector outreach. 
 Also present were the DCM and PolMilOff. 
 
3.  (C)  Chambas expressed concern about the ongoing tensions 
in Guinea-Bissau, and about the lack of control Senegal's 
President Wade seems to have over presidential candidate 
Kumba Yala.  Chambas said that he had traveled to Conakry, 
Dakar, and Bissau with Nigeria's President Obasanjo during 
the previous week to discuss preparations for the coming June 
elections.  Chambas asked Conte and Wade to reduce the 
impression of foreign control over the leading candidates in 
the election (Conte controls Vieirra and Wade controls Yala, 
he said), while at the same time exerting more control to 
rein the candidates in.  Chambas specifically looked to the 
Heads of State to ensure that their candidates would avoid 
inflammatory rhetoric, violence, and would accept the results 
of the election.  Chambas said Conte was on board with the 
plan, but Wade, while he says he will comply, does not seem 
to have adequate control over Yala. 
 
4.  (C)  On the specific preparations for the election, 
Chambas said ECOWAS has a pre-election mission in place to 
assess Bissau's readiness to go to the polls and a Special 
Representative of the Executive Secretary to coordinate 
ECOWAS activities.  Obasanjo and Chambas will likely travel 
to Bissau again prior to the elections to hold talks with the 
candidates to ensure as successful an election as possible. 
 
5.  (C)  When asked about the highly-visible efforts ECOWAS 
was making with election monitoring, Chambas replied that 
ECOWAS has changed its approach.  Instead of coming in to 
observe only when asked by a member state, ECOWAS will now 
send observers to every national election held in the 
sub-region.  Chambas recognized the need for ECOWAS to be a 
credible presence during elections, from campaigning through 
vote counting, and particularly to be seen as "more than a 
rubber stamp" (perhaps a reference to the complaints made by 
the opposition in Togo's elections).  A new Election 
Monitoring Unit, under the Director for Political Affairs, 
will be created at the Secretariat to coordinate these 
efforts.  While the new unit has not been staffed yet, ECOWAS 
received a grant of 400K USD from the Civil Society 
Organization of West Africa as seed money, part of which was 
spent during the recent mission to Togo.  Chambas said the 
challenge for this organization, in addition to finding 
adequate donor support, will be to find ways to integrate 
ECOWAS into national (civil society) and international 
(donor) observation programs. 
 
6.  (C)  Chambas also said that while ECOWAS has made 
significant efforts to reach out to civil society groups, 
there has been little effort to coordinate private sector 
activities in the sub-region.  Recognizing this shortfall, 
the Secretariat has recently hired a Senegalese economist to 
coordinate a new private sector outreach program.  While 
Chambas offered few specifics on this, he opened the door for 
a continued dialogue on what he sees as an exciting new 
aspect to ECOWAS' regional integration program. 
CAMPBELL