An ECOWAS Extraordinary Summit of the Authority of Heads of State and Government which held in Accra, Ghana, to review the political situations in Guinea and Mali, has decided to maintain the sanctions imposed on Guinea and impose similar ones against the Mali Transitional Government.
The Communique at the end of the 3rd Extraordinary Summit on Guinea and Mali attended by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN on behalf of the President, stated that “the Authority decides to uphold the suspension of the Republic of Guinea from all ECOWAS governing bodies as well as the travel ban and freeze on financial assets imposed on the members of the CNRD and their family members until constitutional order is restored,” in the country.
Similarly, regarding Mali, the ECOWAS leaders at a meeting presided over by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana and Chair of the ECOWAS Authority resolved that in “conformity with the decision taken on 16th September 2021, the Authority decides to impose sanctions with immediate effect against individuals and groups who have been identified, including the entire transition authorities and the other transition institutions.
“These sanctions will also be imposed on the members of their families. The sanctions include a travel ban and a freeze on their financial assets. It further instructs the President of the Commission to consider and propose additional sanctions at its next Ordinary Session on 12th December 2021, should the situation persist.”
The ECOWAS Summit attended by leaders from 13 countries then called “on the African Union, the United Nations, and the bilateral and other multilateral partners to endorse and support the implementation of these sanctions.”
Speaking to the media at the end of the Summit, Osinbajo noted that African countries have gone far beyond military coup as a means of changing political actors and that coups are unacceptable.
He added that ECOWAS Heads of State and Government will continue to prevail on the military juntas in Guinea and Mali to return their countries to democratic rule.
According to the VP, “one of the important points that the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government make is that coups and coups de’tat generally are just completely unacceptable….and that we cannot continue to have a situation where they are tolerated for the simple reason that in Africa, West Africa in particular, we’ve gone way beyond military coups as an answer to the question of change in political actors.
“There is a very strong feeling amongst the Heads of State that we must insist, that other international bodies: the UN, EU, and other regional groups must support the impositions of sanctions on individuals and groups that choose not to follow the democratic process of change of government and choose to go by way of coup de‘tat.”
