The Authority of the Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has announced the suspension of Mali from its institutions in accordance with the provisions of the commission.
A communique issued at the end of the one-day extraordinary summit of the ECOWAS Authority Heads of State and Government on the political situation in Mali on May 30, 2021, in Accra, Ghana, strongly condemned the recent coup/
It described the coup as, “a violation of the decisions taken at the extraordinary summit held at Peduase Lodge, Aburi, Ghana on September 15, 2020 and a violation of the Transitional Charter”.
The Heads of State also expressed deep concerns about the current crisis in Mali, which comes halfway to the end of the agreed transition period, and called for the immediate release of the former President and Prime Minister of the transition, under house arrest.
They reaffirmed the importance and the need to respect the democratic process of coming to power, in accordance with the 2001 ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and condemned in particular all the actions which have led to the persistent instability in Mali and its consequences in the region;
The Heads of State also called for the immediate appointment of a new civilian prime minister and the appointment of a new inclusive government to continue the transition agenda;
They also reaffirmed the need to respect the 18-month transition period agreed upon in Accra. “In this context, the date of February 27, 2022 already announced for the presidential election must be absolutely maintained. A monitoring mechanism will be put in place for this purpose.”
According to the communique, the Heads of State reiterated their previous decisions that the head of the transition, the vice-president and the prime minister of the transition should under no circumstances be candidates in the next presidential election;
They also reaffirmed the support of ECOWAS to accompany the transition process in Mali and urged all international partners (the African Union, the United Nations and the European Union) to continue to support Mali in the successful implementation of the transition;
The Heads of State called for the immediate implementation of all the decisions in accordance with the defined transition timetable and they urged the Mediator and former President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to return to Mali within a week to involve the stakeholders in these decisions.
The one-day extraordinary summit was attended attended by 10 Heads of State.
They included Roch-Marc Christian Kabore of Burkina Faso; Cote d’Ivoire’s Alassane Ouattara, Adama Barrow of The Gambia and Umaro Sissoco Embalo of Guinea Bissau.
Others were Liberia’s George Weah, Mohamed Bazoum of Niger, Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari, Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone; and Togo’s Faure Gnassingbe.
GIK/APA