Addis Ababa: The Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have rejected a joint request by Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso to lift sanctions imposed on them and their suspension of membership following the military takeover of governments in the three respective Nations.
The regional bloc decision was met following a summit on the margin of the African Union’s meeting that commenced on Saturday, February 18, 2023, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
During the summit, ECOWAS called on the African Union (AU), the United Nations (UN), and other International partners to support the implementation of their decisions on the three Countries, as they delayed political transition including elections for the return of civilian governments.
Recently, officials of the three countries converged in Ouagadougou the Burkinabe Capital, and agreed to strengthen partnerships among the three embattled nations.
This was shortly after the military government in Burkina Faso expelled the French Ambassador in Ouagadougou following Mali’s example last year in what observers see as growing anti-French sentiments in its former African colonies.
The Foreign Ministers of Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali had travelled to the Ethiopian Capital to joined
Heads of State and Government for the reinstatement of their respective Countries by the AU and ECOWAS, the lifting of sanctions imposed among others.
It can recalled that two military coups took place in Mali in both 2020 and 2021, while Guinea experience theirs in 2021 as well as two in Burkina Faso in 2022 respectively.
Responding to the alleged attacks by Islamic Jihadist and Separatist Armed Groups, Heads of State and Government calls on the President of the ECOWAS Commission to engage with member States to raise One billion United States Dollars (1b US) towards counter-terrorism efforts in the 2020-2024 Plan of Action.
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