ECOWAS Suspends Mali Over Second Coup In 9 Months

The Leaders of the 15-member sub-region body, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), have come together to suspend Mali from the West African Economic Union in response to the latest coup carried out by the military body in the country the second to be witnessed in the country in the last 9-months led by the same clique, with its leader Assimi Goita. 

This new coup will set the poor Sahel country back in its progress in its transition back to civilian rule, Assimi Goita led a Military coup last August where President Boubacar Keita was removed from power. And the transition President Ndaw Bah and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane came into power to help put in place a transitional process for the return to a civilian government.
READ ALSO: Mali’s Constitutional Court Names Coup Leader, Col Assimi Goita As Transitional President 

The leaders of ECOWAS didn’t fall short of imposing new sanctions like those it had imposed after the coup last August which saw members temporarily close their borders with the landlocked West African State and halted financial transactions, with Mali, a decision which was taken at an emergency summit in Accra, Ghana, Sunday, May 30th. 

In a communique after the summit, ECOWAS said Mali’s membership in the bloc was suspended with immediate effect. Ghana’s Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey said after the meeting;

“The suspension from ECOWAS takes immediate effect until the deadline of the end of February 2022 when they are supposed to hand over to a democratically elected government.”

The final declaration called for the immediate appointment of a new civilian prime minister and the formation of an “inclusive” government.
READ ALSO: Malian President And Prime Minister Bah Ndaw And Moctar Ouane Resign From Their Positions

Mali’s new president Colonel Assimi Goita had arrived in the Ghanaian capital Accra on Saturday for preliminary talks. Goita led the young army officers who overthrew Mali’s elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita last August over perceived corruption and his failure to quell a bloody jihadist insurgency.

Photo Credit: Getty