The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) imposed this Sunday in Accra individual sanctions against members of the junta in power in Mali, due to the delay in the organization of the elections, announced a responsible for regional organization.
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"
All the transitional authorities are affected by sanctions which will come into effect immediately,
" the president of the ECOWAS Commission, the Ivorian Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, told AFP after the meeting. an extraordinary summit on the situation in Mali and Guinea, where the military have also taken power. These sanctions include the travel ban and the freezing of their financial assets, he said, adding that they also targeted members of their families. According to him, “
Mali has officially written
” to the current president of ECOWAS, the Ghanaian Nana Akufo-Addo, to notify him that he cannot hold the elections on the scheduled date.
"
The ECOWAS has decided to sanction all those involved in the delay
" in the organization of the elections scheduled for February 27, 2022 in Mali, explained Jean-Claude Kassi Brou.
During a summit on September 16 in Accra, the regional organization demanded from the Malian military "
strict respect for the timetable for the transition
" towards the reestablishment of civilian power.
After the putsch of August 18, 2020 in Bamako, ECOWAS suspended Mali from the organization and stopped financial and commercial exchanges with the country.
Maintenance of sanctions in Guinea
The ECOWAS had lifted these sanctions after having obtained from the soldiers led by Colonel Assimi Goïta the appointment of a civilian president and a transitional prime minister and their commitment to return power to civilians within a maximum period of 18 months. But since then, Colonel Goïta has led a new coup in May by deposing the transitional president Bah Ndaw and his prime minister Moctar Ouane and by being invested as president of the transition. The ECOWAS had again suspended Mali, but had not taken new sanctions.
On Sunday in Accra, ECOWAS also maintained the individual sanctions already taken against the soldiers who took power on September 5 in Guinea and the country's suspension from the organization, said Jean-Claude Brou.
The leaders of the ECOWAS countries proposed a six-month deadline to organize the elections in Guinea and insisted on "
the urgency to release
" the ousted president Alpha Condé, under house arrest since the coup.