Heads of States from the West African Regional group ECOWAS are meeting in Accra today to discuss the political situation in Mali following last year’s coup.
However, Mali’s interim president, Assimi Goita, has declined an invitation to attend in person.
In January, West African countries closed their borders with Mali and announced an embargo after the military leadership scrapped a promise to hold elections the following month to restore civilian rule.
On Thursday a court ordered the suspension of financial sanctions which had been imposed on the military rulers.
A young group of officers in Mali’s armed forces on August 18, 2020, led a coup d’état, arresting the beleaguered President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse. The pair resigned later that day, and the military took charge, led by a body called the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP).
Less than ten months later, officers disgruntled by a government reshuffle forced a second coup and the resignation of the interim civilian president and prime minister. Colonel Assimi Goita was instated as the new president of the transition.
Goita vowed to uphold the deadline of February 27, 2022, for holding democratic elections for a return to civilian rule. It has been almost a month since the set date and the democratic elections are yet to be held.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service has temporarily closed some roads as a result of the ECOWAS Session in Accra, as part of the security measures.
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Source: ATLFMNEWS
