Togo is offering to mediate in resolving the fracas between Mali and Cote d’Ivoire triggered by the detention of 49 Ivorian soldiers in Bamako.
Is the voice of reason resounding in the dispute between Mali and Cote d’Ivoire over the arrest of the soldiers at Bamako airport on Sunday 10 July?
This is a possibility after the visit to Bamako on Monday 18 July by the Togolese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and Togolese Abroad.
During his tête-à-tête with Professor Robert Dussey, Colonel Assimi Goita, the Malian transitional president, said he was open to dialogue and willing to work.
This he said should be in accordance with the spirit of fraternity and excellent relations between Mali and Cote d’Ivoire, for a happy outcome to the situation of the 49 Ivorian soldiers arrested, including through diplomatic channels, in strict compliance with the sovereignty of his country.
“The president of the transition wished that Togo would lead a mission of good offices between the parties concerned,” said the joint communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
This call to Lomé to reconcile Abidjan and Bamako “does not come as a surprise” for the Ivorian political analyst, Yannick Houphouët Kouablan.
“For the record, Mali had also sought the support of Togo to facilitate talks with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) with a view to lifting the sanctions imposed by the regional institution,” he said.
In May 2022, the Malian Foreign minister and his Togolese counterpart had announced that President Faure Gnassingbé had agreed to lead a facilitation mission to lift the ECOWAS embargo on Mali.
The Togolese head of state was then in favour of an agreement on the 24-month period proposed by Bamako, while the regional institution demanded a transition period of 12 to 16 months.
Whatever one may say, the facilitation mission was not a failure.
The proof is that on 4 July, ECOWAS accepted the 24-month transition period.
As a result, the economic and financial sanctions against Mali were lifted at the 61st Ordinary Session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS held in Accra, the capital of Ghana.
On the same day, the Malian government “warmly” thanked Togo’s president, Faure Gnassingbé, for his “tireless efforts to reach an agreement”.
In the case of the 49 Ivorian soldiers arrested by Bamako, what advantage does Lomé have to reconcile the two parties?
”As an honest broker with good relations with the various parties involved in the case, Togo appears to be an actor of choice to settle this dispute between Cote d’Ivoire and Mali through diplomatic channels,” said Yannick Houphouët Kouablan, who recalled that the Togolese president had visited Abidjan in April to plead the case of Mali with President Alassane Ouattara.
During his audience on Monday 18 July with Colonel Assimi Goïta, president of the Malian transition, the head of Togolese diplomacy “reaffirmed the availability of President Faure Gnassingbé to continue his support to the transition” and “help resolve this situation.
On Sunday 10 July, 49 Ivorian soldiers were arrested at Bamako airport.
They are considered by the transitional government as “mercenaries whose aim is to break the dynamics of the rebuilding of Mali and the return to constitutional order”.
They have been placed at the disposal of the justice system.
On Tuesday 12 July, the Ivorian National Security Council met under the chairmanship of Alassane Ouattara and called for the release “without delay” of the soldiers who, according to Abidjan, “are national support elements, a support mechanism for the contingents of troop-contributing countries in the context of peacekeeping missions”.
As such, they were to provide security for the logistics base of the Sahel Aviation Service (SAS).
AC/te/lb/as/APA