West African leaders lift sanctions on Mali
KIGALI, Rwanda/ACCRA, Ghana (AA) – Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) bloc on Sunday lifted economic and financial sanctions imposed on Mali with immediate effect.
ECOWAS imposed the sanctions on Mali in January for delaying to restore democratic rule.
Meeting at an ordinary summit of heads of state and government in Ghana’s capital, Accra, the leaders said the sanctions were lifted after the transition government put in place some essential prerequisites, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, the outgoing president of the ECOWAS Commission, told a news briefing.
These included coming out with an electoral roadmap for the return to constitutional order.
According to the electoral calendar unveiled by the junta last week, the presidential election will be held in February 2024.
This will be preceded by a referendum on the new Constitution in March 2023, local elections in June 2023, and legislative elections between October and November 2023.
But the summit maintained the suspension of Mali from ECOWAS until the return to constitutional rule as well as individual sanctions, said Kassi Brou.
Mali was rocked by two subsequent coups, in August 2020 and in May 2021.
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