Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo, chair of the West African bloc ECOWAS, has told Mali’s ruling junta that elections announced for February must go ahead on schedule, according to his delegation.
During talks in Bamako Akufo-Addo delivered the message to the country’s strongman, Colonel Assimi Goita, who is behind both Mali’s recent coups, having installed a civilian-led interim government under international pressure.
But a senior member of the ECOWAS delegation told Newsmen that the message was very clear; the elections have to be held on the scheduled dates.
An ECOWAS delegation will return to Bamako at the end of October when they hope to receive the assurances they are seeking.
Earlier Goita, who overthrew the elected president last year, met the Ghanaian leader at Bamako airport, Mali’s presidency announced on social media.
Goita pledged to hold elections in February next year, but his government has been slow to prepare for the poll and the junta has suggested the deadline may not be met.
The ECOWAS visit also comes at a delicate moment diplomatically.
Ghana currently holds ECOWAS’s rotating chair, but Akufo-Addo was accompanied by Nigeria’s ex-president Goodluck Jonathan — who is mediating in the Malian crisis — and Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, the ECOWAS commission president.
France is planning to scale back its military presence across the jihadist-ridden Sahel and Bamako has reportedly considered hiring 1,000 Russian paramilitaries from private security firm Wagner.
Discover more from LN247
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
