By Paul Ejime
Amb. James Victor Gbeho served only two years (2010-2012) as President of the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to complete Ghana’s four-year tenure after his compatriot, Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, was appointed Secretary General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States based in Brussels.
During that relatively short stint at the helm of the Nigeria-based ECOWAS Commission, Amb. Gbeho made a tremendous impact and left an enduring legacy on regional development and integration. A class act, his exemplary leadership will be difficult for the 51-year-old economic bloc to replicate.
News from Accra on June 13 about the passing to glory of this eminent former Ghanaian Ambassador and Permanent Representative, Foreign Affairs Minister, MP, Presidential foreign policy adviser, international relations icon and son of Philip Gbeho, the celebrated composer of Ghana’s national anthem, has elicited a mixed nostalgic feeling of sadness and joy.
Sadness, because at 91, Amb. Gbeho will be sorely missed, and, on the other hand, a source of joy, because he lived a fulfilled life of distinguished service to his country, the ECOWAS community, Africa, and the world at large.
Born in Keta, Ghana’s Volta Region, his demise ends a glorious career in diplomacy and public service that spanned several decades as one of Ghana’s most accomplished diplomats. Amb. Gbeho served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1997 to 2001 under the administration of Ghana’s charismatic late President Jerry John Rawlings. He represented his Anlo Ewe constituency as a Member of Parliament from 2001 to 2005 and as a foreign policy adviser to the late President John Evans Atta Mills, contributing to the enrichment of Ghana’s international relations and diplomatic engagements.
Amb. Gbeho wasGhana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from 1980 to 1990, and his tour of duty included postings to other strategic foreign capitals in China, India, Nigeria, Liberia, Germany, the United Kingdom and Switzerland.
In 2010, he was unanimously elected President of the ECOWAS Commission, a position he held until 2012. During his tenure, he led a management team that took the project of regional integration, cooperation and stability across West Africa anotch higher. He took over from Dr Chambas, who supervised the ECOWAS transformation from an Executive Secretariat to a Commission from 2007.
Soon after he assumed office at the ECOWAS Commission’s old Headquarters on Yakubu Gowon Crescent, Asokoro, Abuja, Amb. Gbeho convened a strategic conference in Monrovia, Liberia, in March 2010 on “Two decades of peace processes in West Africa, achievements, failures and lessons.” The outcome was the “Monrovia Declaration,” a 16-point action agenda focusing on critical governance and security targets.
Amb. Gbeho used a high-profile outing at Chatham House, London, in June 2011, to unveil his integration consolidation agenda in a well-received policy statement on “Democracy in the Context of Regional Integration in West Africa: Status, Challenges and Perspectives.”
He reminded the international audience that “the evolution of ECOWAS can only be properly understood against the backdrop of the fascinating history and circumstances of West Africa since establishing contact with the world beyond its borders,” adding: “The fact that slavery, colonialism, as well as racial and economic marginalization, had left an intrinsic yearning for freedom, unity and solidarity among peoples of African descent everywhere defines its wish to integrate its states and peoples.”
The import of that speech, which addressed the impact of democracy on the integration process, still resonates today, even as ECOWAS, a trailblazer among Africa’s eight Regional Economic Communities (RECS), now struggles with leadership challenges at national and regional levels.
The evolving ECOWAS Compact of the Future should build on the highlights of the Chatham House address by Amb. Gbeho, whose tenure witnessed the initiation and implementation of impactful community projects and programmes, such as the ECOWAS Malaria Elimination Campaign, which he launched in Accra in July 2011.
He also facilitated the ECOWAS Regional Transportation and Infrastructure Development Programme, leading a delegation that received ASKY Airlines’ inaugural Flight KP032 from Lomé to Abuja on November 18, 2011
Leveraging his vast experience in management and international relations, Gbeho gave eloquent expression to the spirit and letter of ECOWAS Treaties and instruments that charged the Commission to coordinate the activities of Community Institutions and Specialised Agencies, and “provide leadership and orientation” to the Authority of Heads of State and Government.
Under him, ECOWAS boycotted the “unfair” election in the Gambia conducted by former dictator Yaya Jammeh. The Commission also refused to recognise the outcome of that vote. This is a far cry from contemporary practices, with the Commission now unable to even issue a statement drawing the attention of regional leaders who have perfected the serial violation of ECOWAS protocols, texts and normative frameworks. This has led to unconstitutional changes of government, impunity, non-compliance with regional rules and even a self-coup, with four of the organisation’s 15 member States now under military dictatorships, and the withdrawal of three of them – Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger – known as the Alliance of Sahel States, AES.
The dearth of leadership has caused ECOWAS serious reputational damage. The situation is begging for urgent redemption with Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who staged the self-coup in Guinea-Bissau, planning a comeback through another election in December 2026, after he prevented the announcement of the results of the November 2025 vote, fearing an outright defeat.
A new ECOWAS Commission management, which is expected to emerge from the August 2026 Summit, has a Herculean task ahead, beginning with ensuring that Embalo and any other leader who blatantly flouts the organization’s rules are duly sanctioned. This is the only way for ECOWAS to regain its glory.
As a development journalist and communications specialist, I have covered, followed and been a participant observer of ECOWAS activities, including as foreign affairs/diplomatic editor, and a war correspondent in Liberia and Sierra Leone. It was while serving at the Communications Directorate of the ECOWAS Commission, partly during Gbeho’s presidency, that I was exposed to the inner workings of an intergovernmental organization under the leadership of an uncommon chief executive.
Just as he respected the Heads of State, but stood firm on principle, Gbeho was never shy in reading the riot act to errant staff members to maintain discipline. Unassuming but exuding gravitas, Gbeho was the epitome of simplicity, and it did not require much effort to break the ice with the seasoned diplomat, who boasts a repertoire of native intelligence and storytelling prowess.
“The general rule is to make friends with everyone as much as possible. However, for those who reject your friendly gestures, when you shake their hands, check to ensure that all your fingers are still intact,” he said, while sharing jokes with this writer and a colleague during an informal moment. The life lesson on relationships, from that wise saying, has stuck.
Apart from his exemplary public service achievements, Gbeho hailed from an illustrious family with a rich history and culture. His father, a renowned musician, composer and teacher, was instrumental in the establishment of the Arts Council of Ghana and later served as director of music and conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Ghana.
The elder Gbeho was probably best known as the composer and arranger of Ghana’s “God Bless Our Home Land” National Anthem, and the late broadcaster, Komla Dumor of the BBC Africa Service fame, was also from the Gbeho family. As tributes pour in, the world awaits from the Gbeho family, the funeral arrangements of a great African statesman, who will be remembered for his contributions to international diplomacy, governance and regional integration.
Ejime is a Global Affairs Analyst and Consultant on Peace & Security and Governance Communications