As President Emmanuel Macron threatens to withdraw French troops from Mali in the wake of the latest coup, leaders of the Economic Community of West African States are to meet in Ghana on Sunday to discuss a response to Mali’s latest military takeover. The country’s new president Colonel Assimi Goita has been asked to come to Ghana’s capital Accra for “consultations”.
Assimi Goita flew to Accra on Saturday, military and airport sources said.
In a statement on Facebook, the office of the Mali presidency said Goita would “take part alongside his counterparts in the sub-region”.
He had served as vice president since leading a coup last August that ousted the democratically elected president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, with the roles of president and prime minister being held by civilians after pressure from the Economic Community of West African States, Ecowas.
Macron issues stark warning
French President Emmanuel Macron told a Sunday newspaper that he has made Paris’s position absolutely clear to the West African leaders.
“France will not go on supporting a country without democratic legitimacy,” Macron has warned.
“I told Malian President Bah Ndaw, who was serious about the keeping the jihadists completely isolated from political power, that I would never tolerate radical islamism in Mali while our soldier are serving there.
“Now there is that danger in Mali. If things continue in that direction, France will withdraw,” the French leader said.
France has 5,100 troops in the region under its so-called Barkhane operation which spans five countries in the Sahel — Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.
The G5 Sahel mission, headquartered in Chad, was launched after France intervened to fend off a jihadist insurrection in Mali in 2013.
Second coup in nine months
Last Monday, Malian soldiers detained transitional president Bah Ndaw and prime minister Moctar Ouane, releasing them on Thursday while saying that they had resigned.
The twin arrests triggered a diplomatic uproar and marked the second coup within a year in the Sahel country.
Mali’s constitutional court completed Goita’s rise to full power on Friday by naming him transitional president.
With the junta going back on its previous commitment to civilian political leaders, doubts have been raised about its other pledges, which include the holding of early elections.
The junta said this week it would continue to respect that timetable, but added that it could be subject to change.
The constitutional court said Goita would exercise the functions of president to “lead the transition process to its conclusion”.
Threat of further sanctions
Ecowas issued sanctions against Mali after the August coup before lifting them when the transitional government was put in place.
The 15-nation bloc has warned of reimposing sanctions, as has the United States and former colonial power France.
West African leaders lift sanctions on Mali after PM completes transitional govt
French leader Emmanuel Macron, during a visit to Rwanda and South Africa, said on Saturday that he told West African leaders they could not back a country “where there is no longer democratic legitimacy or transition”.
Ndaw and Ouane’s detention came hours after a government reshuffle that would have replaced the defence and security ministers, both of whom were army officers involved in the August putsch.
On Friday, Goita said the army had had little choice but to intervene.
“We had to choose between disorder and cohesion within the defence and security forces and we chose cohesion,” he said.
Goita added that he wants to name a prime minister from the opposition M5 movement within days.
M5 spearheaded protests against former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in 2020, but it was excluded from key posts in the army-dominated post-coup administration.
Mali is regularly ranked among the world’s poorest countries.