The military authorities in power in Mali indicated on Wednesday that they dissociate themselves from the sanctions taken by ECOWAS against their Guinean neighbor. Mali and Guinea are all ruled by military coup leaders.
Like Burkina Faso and Chad, Mali and Guinea are countries governed by the military. In August 2020 in Mali and September 2021 in Guinea, the military overthrew the civilian regimes and seized power. This seizure of power by force and, above all, this desire of the military to remain at the head of the countries, is sanctioned by ECOWAS, through the suspension of these countries from the decision-making bodies of the sub-regional organization.
In addition, an extraordinary summit of the West African body held in New York on September 22 decided to suspend all assistance and financial transactions of the organization’s financial institutions with Guinea. Not to mention that individual sanctions are targeting some of the transition authorities. The icing on the cake is that the Malian government says it “disassociates itself” from these punishments against its Guinean neighbor. “Given the solidarity and fraternity between Mali and Guinea, the Transitional Government decides to disassociate itself from all illegal, inhumane and illegitimate sanctions taken against the sister Republic of Guinea and will not take any action against it, and to adopt, if necessary, measures to assist the Republic of Guinea, in order to annihilate the consequences of these useless sanctions against the people and authorities of Guinea,” said Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga
The Malian government also expressed “its unwavering solidarity and firm support for the brotherly people and government of the Republic of Guinea in their commitment to lay the foundations for rebuilding the Guinean state through the political and institutional reforms necessary for a peaceful, credible and secure return to a normal constitutional order.
This message of solidarity comes in a context where the Guinean and Malian putschists are at the heart of the African political news, explaining the difficulties of the West African crowned heads. In fact, the New York summit focused exclusively on how to bring these army colonels who broke into the political arena to their senses.
While progressive sanctions are being imposed on Guinea, West African leaders have also dispatched a high-level mission to Mali, which is expected to resolve a diplomatic crisis with Ivory Coast. Assimi Goïta’s country was also hit by ECOWAS sanctions from January to July 2022. And Mamady Doumbouya’s Guinea was practically the only country to show solidarity with Bamako, by leaving its borders open. In recent days, relations between the two countries have become even more solid. While ECOWAS leaders were sealing the fate of the two juntas, Assimi Goïta received Mamady Doumbouya with full honors and elevated him to the dignity of Grand Cross of the National Order of Mali. It was that same September 22, on the occasion of the celebration of the 62 years of independence of Mali.
