Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have suspended Mali from the regional bloc in response to the recent coup, which is the second coup in nine months by the military of Mali.
ECOWAS took the decision during an emergency summit which took place in Ghana’s capital, Accra recently.
The group said in a communique after the summit that Mali’s membership in the bloc was suspended with immediate effect.
After the meeting, Foreign Minister of Ghana, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey said: “The suspension from ECOWAS takes immediate effect until the deadline of the end of February 2022 when they are supposed to hand over to a democratically elected government.”
The final declaration demanded for the immediate appointment of a new civilian Prime Minister and the establishment of an “inclusive” government.
The new President of Mali, Colonel Assimi Goita had landed in Accra few days ago for preliminary talks. Goita led the military officers that overthrew the elected President of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita last August over corruption and failure to curb a bloody jihadist insurgency.
