The August 18th mutiny in Mali that led to the resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and the subsequent disbanding of his government has been condemned by the United Nations.
In a televised broadcast, President Keita announced that he was stepping down and dissolving his government and parliament because he wanted no blood to be spilled upon his refusal to resign.
The UN’s Security Council on Wednesday 19th echoed similar calls by regional bodies, demanding the immediate release of all government officials and the restoration of constitutional order by the mutineers.
Similarly today, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in a statement by the Commission titled ‘Heads of State to hold Extraordinary Summit on the Socio-political situation in Mali’ held via videoconference concluded that the military action would impact negatively on peace and stability in Mali and in the sub-region. The meeting resolved to suspend Mali from ECOWAS decision making bodies with immediate effect until active reinstatement of the constitutional order.
ECOWAS has strongly condemned the undemocratic change of government as it is against its protocol on Democracy and Good Governance.
The African Union (AU) earlier suspended Mali saying, “Military coups are something of the past which we cannot accept any more.”
“Whenever you have a crisis and the Military have a coup and say ‘we are responding to the will of the people’, this way of reasoning is not acceptable at all,” the AU’s Commissioner for Peace and Security, Smail Chergui shared with BBC’s Focus on Africa.
Presently, French troops, American drones, UN peacekeepers, and British helicopters are all trying to strengthen security, not just in Mali but across the vast region although they are increasingly threatened by Islamist insurgencies among other conflicts.
The coup has been led by two commanders, General Sadio Camara and Colonel Malick Diaw. The mutineers claim they will now put together a transition process, with elections taking place within what they termed as ‘reasonable time’.
