Follow Us on Google
As a result of the recent coup d’état in Mali, the second in nine months, the country has been suspended by the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) until constitutional democracy is restored to the landlocked West African country.
The Peace and Security Council of the AU, which announced the action against Mali, said the country had been barred from participation in all activities of the organisation, its organs and institutions, until normal constitutional order has been restored. It warned that if the military did not hand back power to civilian transitional leaders, “the Council will not hesitate to impose targeted sanctions and other punitive measures.” The move came on the heels of earlier suspension of the country from the West African sub-regional body, ECOWAS.
The military in Mali, led by Colonel Assimi Goaita, had cashed in on the disillusionment that had trailed the administration of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, and Prime Minister Boubou Cissé to seize power in August last year. Following pressure and threats of sanctions from other ECOWAS member-states, the military agreed to appoint civilians as interim president and prime minister.
However, in a move that provoked a diplomatic uproar, Goaita sacked the transitional President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister, Moctar Ouane. In response, ECOWAS suspended Mali from its activities until February 2022, when the soldiers are expected to hand over to a democratically elected government. AU has equally followed suit.
We endorse the action of ECOWAS and AU and align with them in their efforts to return Mali to the path of constitutional government. Besides the suspension, there is need for more direct diplomatic measures that will bring pressure to bear on the coup leaders in Mali. Allowing the aberration in Mali to stay may embolden other military adventurists elsewhere in the sub-region or on the continent to strike in their countries.
We condemn the ugly political development in Mali and urged the military junta to quickly allow democracy to prevail in the country. Military rule in Africa or elsewhere has never been benevolent. It has caused mass misery, wars and deaths. Although civilian rule in Africa has its many sour points, it is still better than military dictatorship. Beside the glamour of office and its perquisites, the military may not do much in repositioning the country. Their path to power had the trappings of previous experiences in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Chad, Liberia and other African countries they had set their feet on. All the countries on the continent that have had the history of military incursion in politics still bear the brunt of such interventions. Some had even led their countries to bitter civil wars or economic crisis.
It must be pointed out to Malian military junta that military rule is no longer an acceptable form of government anywhere in the world. It is estimated that Africa has witnessed more than 200 military coups, successful or aborted, since 1960. Until the 1990s, such coups were the most common form of government change, promoting corruption and disorder in the affected states. To halt the trend, the AU’s predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), in 2000 adopted the Lomé Declaration on the framework for response to unconstitutional changes of government, such as coups, intervention by mercenaries, seizure of power by armed dissident groups and rebel movements. Article 30 of the declaration stipulates that “governments which shall come to power through unconstitutional means shall not be allowed to participate in the activities of the Union.” ECOWAS protocols also frown at such unconstitutional means of changing the government.
By the coup, the soldiers in Mali have breached these agreements on change of power. The country is, therefore, at great risk of economic and diplomatic sanctions from the continental and sub-regional bodies. Mali is among the world’s poorest countries. It is also battling insurgency and armed uprising, which first emerged in the north of the country in 2012 and has since spread to other parts up to neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger.
Already buffeted by acute poverty and debilitating insurgency, a possible regime of sanctions from the ECOWAS, will add to its travails. What is required in Mali now is a careful negotiation to ease the soldiers out of the political scene. We call for a quick return to constitutional democracy in Mali. However, ECOWAS and AU leaders should also encourage good governance in member states to discourage potential “coupists” from striking.
