ACCRA — Cape Verde’s failure to pay its ECOWAS community levy is hindering its effort to take its rightful place in the bloc, including its bid to host an Extraordinary Session of the Community Parliament, lawmakers said.
On the final day of the Second 2026 Extraordinary Session of the Community Parliament in Accra on Saturday, September 26, 2026, as the plenary discussed the 2027 work plan, Rosa Lopes Rocha of the Cape Verde delegation appealed for her country to host the first Extraordinary Session next year.
But MPs opposed Cape Verde hosting the session, saying the country had not met its community levy obligations. The levy is used to run ECOWAS. At the beginning of the current Sixth Legislature, Cape Verde lost out on a deputy speakership position because of non-payment.
Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire were proposed by MPs as alternative hosts.
Rocha said that with upcoming elections in Cape Verde, a new president would take office in January and the country would begin paying levies owed to ECOWAS. She appealed for Cape Verde to be given the chance to host the second Extraordinary Session in 2027.
“We are not alone in defaulting on ECOWAS levies. There are many countries in arrears. In January 2027 the arrears will be settled,” she said.
Former First Deputy Speaker in the Fifth Legislature Ahmed Idris Wase said that while he wished to be fair, Cape Verde was behind schedule in paying its levy, and the meeting should not be taken there.
Other members who contributed to the work plan shared that view, saying the Extraordinary Session could not be taken to Cape Verde while it had not met its financial obligations.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/EcowasNewsOnline.com
