The ECOWAS Authority has reaffirmed its decision that a civilian Head of the Transitional Government and Prime Minister, both civilians, be appointed in Mali to begin the normalisation process as a condition to lift sanctions placed on the country.
The ECOWAS Authority on Tuesday, August 19, 2020, announced a closure of its member states’ borders with Mali after mutinying soldiers detained President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
The West Africa bloc had earlier demanded that the Heads of Transitional Government and Prime Minister, both civilians, should be appointed not later than September 15, 2020, in Mali, but this has not been done.
ECOWAS, which includes Mali, announced the suspension of all financial flows between its 14 other member states and Mali and exclude Mali from its internal decision-making bodies and pledged to demand sanctions against “all the putschists and their partners and collaborators”.
These, concerns, among others, necessitated the ECOWAS Chair, President Akufo-Addo to call for an extraordinary meeting of the ECOWAS Authority in Accra, Ghana, on Tuesday, September 15, 2020, to dialogue on ways of returning Mali to constitutional rule and prevent further the deterioration of the Malian political environment.
The meeting brought together, the Ivorian President, the Senegalese President; Baukina Fasso President, the Togolese President, the Nigerian Vice President and a delegation from nine African countries, Key stakeholders from the Malian military junta, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and relevant stakeholders.
Speaking after a meeting between the ECOWAS Authority and Mali’s Military Junta, President Akufo-Addo said ECOWAS viewpoint is that “matters that have been put out should be dealt with in terms of days and not weeks” in other to bolster confidence in the normalisation process in that country.
The ECOWAS Chair said the situation in Mali called for a quick resolution. “They must have a government in place that will begin the process of normalising things, more than anything else…”
“That is the reason why I decided that it will be a good thing to meet face-to-face with the Military leaders so we could talk eye ball to eyeball,” President Akufo-Addo stated.
The ECOWAS Chair said, “we need a civilian leadership of the transition, and has also made it clear the minute that the civilian leadership is put in place through the processes that they have agreed upon in Mali, sanctions placed on Mali will be lifted by ECOWAS.”
“In a week, the mediator (Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, former President of Nigeria) will be back in Bamako to access the situation there and I am hopeful that by the time he gets there the processes would have been completed so the sanctions could be lifted,” President Akufo-Addo said.
Rebel soldiers arrested Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse on Tuesday afternoon following weeks of political tension in that country.
Former President Boubacar Keita, who was detained at gunpoint, announced his resignation and dissolved parliament in a brief address broadcast overnight on state television.”
The apparent coup leaders, a few minutes later said they would enact a political transition and stage elections within a reasonable time.
Boubacar Keita, 75, came to power through the Bamako coup in 2013, assuring that he will bring peace and stability and fight corruption. He won reelection for a second five-year term in 2018.
