The ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government has issued additional sanctions on Mali due to its transitional authorities’ failure to take the necessary steps for the organization of a Presidential election before February 27, 2022.
According to the sanction plan, the Authority in a communiqué derived from a one-day summit announced that it is recalling accredited Ambassadors to Mali from ECOWAS Member States for consultations; closing land and air borders between ECOWAS countries and Mali; suspending all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS Member States and Mali, with the exception of food products, pharmaceutical products, medical supplies and equipment, including materials for the control of COVID-19, petroleum products and electricity.
Other prohibition by the Authority are the freezing of assets of the Republic of Mali in ECOWAS Central Banks; the Malian State and the State Enterprises as well as Parastatals in Commercial Banks; and as well suspend Mali from all financial assistance and all financial assistance and transactions with all financial institutions, particularly, EBID and BOAD.
Meanwhile, the Authority instructs all Community institutions to take steps to implement these sanctions with immediate effect.
According to the West African regional body, the sanctions will be reviewed in view of a gradual lifting only after an acceptable and agreed calendar is finalized as well as monitored satisfactory progress is realized in the implementation of the calendar for the elections.
“These sanctions have been put in place to facilitate the process of a return to constitutional order in Mali which is necessary for peace, stability and growth. By excluding essential basic goods and services, the sanctions have been designed to avoid impact on the population,” ECOWAS clarified.
The Authority therefore calls on the African Union, the United Nations and other partners to support the process for the enforcement of these sanctions and continue to provide support for a successful political transition.
It invites the neighboring countries of Mali, which are not members of ECOWAS, particularly Algeria and Mauritania, to support the implementation of the sanctions as it promises to shortly field a mission to these neighboring countries led by the Chairperson of Council of Ministers.
It can be recalled that following the discussions, the Authority said contrary to the agreement reached with ECOWAS Authority on September 15, 2020 and the commitment in the Transition Charter, there is an obvious and blatant lack of political will from the Transition authorities that led to the absence of any tangible progress in the preparations for the elections, despite the willingness of ECOWAS and all regional and international partners to support Mali in this process.
According to the scheduled, the calendar submitted on December 31, 2021 by the transition authorities to the Chairperson of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government arranged that the presidential elections should take place by the end December 2026.
Therefore, with this arrangement, a transition period of six and a half years should be set in motion but important stakeholders did not participate in those ANR, thus reflecting a lack of consensus by national stakeholders with regards to the proposed calendar.
Since then, there have been reports the consistent deployment of private security agents in Mali with its potentially destabilizing impact on the West Africa Region as the Malian Transition Government continues to stall the political transition in the country by the persistent arrests and imprisonment of Malian Political personalities and former dignitaries, among others.