Mali announces its withdrawal from the G5 Sahel and the Joint Force

Mali withdraws from the G5 Sahel and its anti-jihadist force. Indeed, according to the ruling junta, the regional organisation is ” exploited ” by ” the outside “. This is at least the message that can be retained from the televised address of the government spokesman, Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga last Sunday evening. Through this withdrawal, Bamako is protesting against the refusal of other member countries to let it head the organisation, responsible for fighting jihadism.

The differences between Mali and the G5 are rooted in a conference of G5 Sahel heads of state initially scheduled for February 2022 in Bamako, which was supposed to “mark the beginning of the Malian presidency of the G5”, but “almost a quarter after the deadline”, this meeting “has still not been held”, says the Malian presidency’s press release.

Furthermore, the Government of Mali “firmly rejects the argument of a G5 Sahel member state that puts forward the internal national political situation as a reason for opposing Mali’s exercise of the G5 Sahel presidency. Indeed, no legal text of the G5 Sahel provides for restrictions against a member state on the basis of its national political situation. In this regard, no provision of the texts of this institution provides that it can also endorse sanctions or restrictions imposed by other organizations against a member state,” the statement added without naming the country in question.

France involved?

Furthermore, according to the communiqué of the transitional military government, “the opposition of certain G5 Sahel member states to Mali’s presidency is linked to the attempts of a state from outside the region to isolate Mali,” said Colonel Abdoulaye Maïga, spokesman for the transitional government. One can therefore deduce that the junta in power in Mali indexes France without wanting to name it, especially when one looks at the relationship between the two countries in recent months.

“From this situation, the government of the Republic of Mali deduces a loss of autonomy, an exploitation and a serious dysfunction of the G5 Sahel bodies. Consequently, the government of Mali decides to withdraw from all the bodies and instances of the G5 Sahel, including the joint force,” the statement continued.

Created in 2014, the G5 Sahel is composed of 5 countries. These include Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Mauritania and Chad. As the main target of increasing jihadist attacks for several years, these countries have set up a joint military force, launched in 2017 and supporting national armies.