With effect from Sunday the 30th of May, 2021, Mali was suspended from all ECOWAS activities.
This was contained in a communique at the end of an extraordinary meeting in Accra over the crises in that country.
Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, told journalists Sunday the suspension will remain until February 2022.
“The decision of the Heads of State is to suspend Mali from ECOWAS and it [takes effect] immediately until the deadline of the end of February 2022 when they are supposed to hand over to a democratically-elected government,” she said.
“One of the decisions of the heads of state is that they should ensure that in the next few days there is a civilian Prime Minister who will form a transitional government for the rest of the period.”
Mali saw its second coup d’état in nine months when Colonel Assimi Goïta seized power from the transition government of President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane.
Col. Goita defended his action saying it was necessary because they had failed in their duties and were seeking to sabotage the country’s transition.
Soldiers arrested and detained the two men after a cabinet reshuffle that Col. Goïta said he was not consulted about.
Col. Goïta has now promised that a new Prime Minister would be appointed within days, and that election would still go ahead next year as planned.