Put national interest above all - Political leaders in Togo told

Abuja, May 20, GNA - Political leaders in Togo were on Thursday asked to demonstrate greater flexibility and place the national interest above their personal and sectional considerations. In addition, they should build confidence among themselves for dialogue towards the establishment of Government of National Unity with representation from all the political parties to return the country to normalcy.

The call was made in a Communique' adopted at the end of a one-day Mini-Summit on the Togolese crisis held at the ECOWAS Secretariat in Abuja, Nigeria.

The Summit jointly organised by the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was attended by six Heads of State and Government from the West African Sub-Region. They were President John Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Chairman of the AU, who convened the Summit and President Mamadou Tandja of Niger and Chairman of ECOWAS. The rest were President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, President Mathieu Kerekou of Benin and President Omar Bongo of Gabon. The Summit, also attended by leaders and representatives of all the political parties in Togo, was to forge a way ahead to build national reconciliation and popular democracy in Togo. The Communique' also called on all Togolese political parties to desist from acts of violence, impunity and vandalism that had contributed to insecurity in Togo.

It said the establishment of the Government of National Unity should be mandated to initiate the requisite and necessary reforms that would put Togo back on the path of recovery.

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who accompanied President Kufuor to the Mini-summit, told newsmen that discussions at the summit were held in a frank and exhaustive manner. On Ghana's role in finding a solution to the Togolese crisis, the Foreign Minister said "Ghana is for stability, peace and democratic governance in all African countries and would endeavour to ensure that consensus emerged in Togo for her socio-economic and political development".

President Kufuor has since returned home.