Mali: ECOWAS imposes individual sanctions on members of the ruling junta – archyde

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) imposed, Sunday, November 7 in Accra, Ghana, individual sanctions on members of the junta in power in Mali, due to the delay in the organization of elections, announced an official of this regional organization.

“All the transitional authorities are affected by sanctions which will come into effect immediately”, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) the president of the ECOWAS Commission, the Ivorian Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, after an extraordinary summit on the situation in Mali and Guinea, where the military also took power.

These sanctions include the travel ban and the freezing of their financial assets, he said, adding that they also targeted members of their families. According to him, “Mali has officially written” to the current president of ECOWAS, the Ghanaian Nana Akufo-Addo, to notify him that it was not possible for the elections to take place on the scheduled date.

“ECOWAS has decided to sanction all those who are involved in the delay” of the organization of the elections scheduled for February 27, 2022 in Mali, explained Mr. Kassi Brou. According to the final communiqué, additional sanctions will be studied and proposed during the next summit, in December, “If the situation persists”.

Restore civil power

On the occasion of a summit on September 16 in Accra, the regional organization demanded from the Malian soldiers the “Strict adherence to the transition schedule” democratic. At the end of October, a United Nations (UN) Security Council delegation visiting Mali insisted to the authorities on the importance of respecting the electoral calendar supposed to allow the reestablishment of a civilian government.

After the putsch of August 18, 2020 in Bamako, ECOWAS suspended Mali from its ranks and stopped financial and commercial exchanges with this country, in the grip of a cycle of jihadist and inter-community violence. ECOWAS had lifted these sanctions after having obtained from the junta the appointment of two civilians, Bah N’Daw and Moctar Ouane, respectively as president and prime minister of the transition, as well as its commitment to return power to civilians in a period of eighteen months maximum.

But Colonel Assimi Goïta, the head of the junta, carried out a new coup in May. by depositing MM. N’Daw and Ouane and by being invested as president of the transition. ECOWAS then had again suspended Mali from its decision-making bodies, but had not taken any new sanctions.

October 26, Mali had declared ECOWAS special representative Hamidou Boly persona non grata, reproaching him for “Acts incompatible with his statute”. The latter had left the country the next day. On Sunday, the leaders of ECOWAS have “Condemned the expulsion” by Mr. Boly.

Sanctions maintained in Guinea

They also maintained the individual sanctions already taken against the military who seized power on September 5 in Guinea and the suspension of this country from the organization, said Brou. The leaders of the ECOWAS member states reiterated the need to organize the elections within six months and insisted on “The urgency to release” ousted President Alpha Condé, 83, under house arrest since the coup.

They also appointed Mohamed Ibn Chambas special envoy of ECOWAS for Guinea, a country with a troubled history, which has known for decades since the independence of authoritarian or dictatorial regimes, until the election of Mr. Condé in 2010.

At the end of October, an ECOWAS delegation in Conakry noted a “Positive dynamic” for “A return to constitutional order”. “Progress has been made. There are positive aspects that should be noted ”, said Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, who headed the delegation, citing the adoption of a transition charter and the gradual establishment of the transition bodies.