ABUJA, Nigeria
Ahead of the ECOWAS Extraordinary summit in Ghana on Friday, a West African Court has ordered the suspension of some punitive sanctions imposed on Mali by the eight-nation West African Economic and Monetary Union with the French acronym UEMOA.
UEOMA members, comprising
mainly former French colonies in West Africal also belong to the 15-nation
regional ECOWAS bloc.
The group uses the common
currency, CFA franc, which is tied to the French Treasury.
The members belong to the
Central Bank of West Africa, BCEAO, based in Dakar, Senegal.
The group met on January 9 in
Accra before an ECOWAS summit to suspend Mali and impose sweeping financial
sanctions on the country.
ECOWAS subsequently imposed
its own sanctions.
This was after Mali’s Col
Assimi Goita-led military dominated interim government delayed its earlier
transition programme.
An official of the UEMOA Court
told journalists on Thursday that the suspension order would be followed by
“details” of the legal decision.
The ruling followed suits
filed by the Goita-led junta, which described the UEMOA sanctions as “illegal.”
While ECOWAS sanctions might
be different, Thursday’s court ruling could impact decision/s of Friday’s
ECOWAS summit, which is expected to review the regional sanctions against Mali
and also consider possible compromise on the country’s transition timetable.
Former Nigeria President
Goodluck Jonathan, the ECOWAS Mediator on the Mali crisis ended his latest
mission to Bamako this week without any agreement on the transition programme.
In a climbdown from its
earlier tough stance, ECOWAS has invited Goita to the Accra meeting, with
developments in Guinea and Burkina Faso also on the summit agenda.
Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso
are under military rule in a resurgence of coups and regression of democracy in
West Africa.
It is unclear if Goita would
attend the Accra summit in person, given the palpable security concerns and
mutual mistrust.
A man who attempted to kill
Goita with a knife in July 2021, reportedly died in custody during interrogation,
according to the government.
Authorities in Mali have
accused ECOWAS of acting the script of former colonial power France, amid
strained diplomatic relations between Paris and Bamako.
France is pulling out its
forces fighting Islamic insurgency from Mali after accusing the Goita regime of
contracting the Russian private security agency Wagner for military support.
In apparent retaliation, Mali
has expelled the French Ambassador from Bamako and also ordered French media
groups RFI and France24 out of Mali.
Critics have accused ECOWAS of
inconsistency and ineffectiveness in dealing with threats to democracy in the
region, including dubious alteration of national constitutions, electoral
frauds and human rights violations, which are partly responsible for political
instability and military incursions in politics in some member States.
Also, while the memberships of
the three military-controlled States have been suspended, it is believed that
the sanctions against Mali are disproportionate.
The military in Guinea has yet
to officially announce a transition timetable, while those in Burkina Faso only
made public a three-year transition programme on Tuesday.
ECOWAS, which will be 47 in
May, with a good track record in conflict prevention, management and resolution,
now faces a tough integrity and existential test on the political crises in
Mali and other troubled member States.
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