And six extraordinary summits for ECOWAS.

West African leaders are meeting on Saturday June 4 in Accra to decide whether to ease or toughen sanctions against Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea, where the juntas that have come to power by force do not intend to leave it anytime soon. .

The leaders of the countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) gathered at the end of the morning in the Ghanaian capital must say in particular whether they maintain, lighten or even lift the severe retaliatory measures inflicted on Mali on January 9 to stop the military's plan to govern for five more years.

>> To review: "Exclusive: the Minusma alert on an untenable situation in Mali"

Burkina, another Sahelian country caught in the jihadist turmoil, and Guinea are currently only suspended from ECOWAS bodies.

But the juntas in power intend to stay there for three years and expose their country to the wrath of ECOWAS.

West Africa has seen a succession of coups by colonels and lieutenant-colonels in less than two years: putsch on August 18, 2020 in Bamako – a new fait accompli completing the first on May 24, 2021 –, putsch on 5 September 2021 in Conakry, putsch on January 24, 2022 in Ouagadougou.

New strongman resistance

Since 2020, ECOWAS, alarmed at the risk of contagion in a vulnerable region, has multiplied summits, mediations and pressure to shorten the so-called transition periods before a return of civilians to the leadership of their country.

It comes up against resistance from the new strong men, whether Colonel Assimi Goïta in Mali, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya in Guinea or Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who have all been invested as presidents in the meantime. .

The new rulers in uniform invoke, in order to stay in power, the gravity of the crises they are facing, security in Mali and Burkina, social and political in the three countries.

They want to have the necessary time for what they present as their undertaking to "refound" their state, and for the organization of credible elections.

Faced with ECOWAS, they wrap themselves in the pre-eminence of national sovereignty over the rules of West African governance.

Space for compromise with Bamako

In Mali, the junta withdrew from its initial commitment, made under pressure from ECOWAS, to give way after 18 months after elections promised in February 2022. When it went so far as to consider five additional years , ECOWAS cracked down vigorously on January 9, closing borders and suspending trade and financial exchanges, excluding basic necessities.

A UN report released last week said that, in an already acute crisis, West African sanctions have "severely affected" certain sectors and "worsened living conditions, especially those of the poor".

After the protests, the authorities reduced their claims to 24 months.

Until then, ECOWAS has agreed to a maximum of 16 months and indicated that the sanctions would only be lifted gradually when Mali presented an acceptable timetable.

Different protagonists stressed that there was room for a compromise.

"By taking into consideration above all the suffering of the Malian people, we can agree on a deadline which would be between sixteen and twenty-four months", said the Senegalese head of state recently in the magazine Jeune Afrique, Chairman-in-Office of the African Union.

An "unthinkable" delay in Guinea

On the other hand, "for Guinea, ECOWAS will have to take measures", he said.

He described as "unthinkable" the delay of 39 months, since reduced to 36, that Colonel Doumbouya took on.

At a previous summit on March 25, ECOWAS had given the junta until April 25 to present an “acceptable” timetable.

Otherwise, "economic and financial sanctions will come into force immediately," she warned.

ECOWAS has already announced the freezing of the financial assets of members of the junta and their families.

They are prohibited from traveling within ECOWAS.

A "reasonable" Burkina?

Burkina, he "seems more reasonable" to the president of the African Union.

The March summit gave Burkina the same ultimatum as Guinea.

But at the request of the junta, ECOWAS dispatched a three-day mission at the end of May to assess the situation in Burkina, where bloody jihadist attacks follow one another.

The mission's report, submitted to the Accra summit on Saturday, notes that "the humanitarian and security situation remains difficult" and "we must obviously take the measure of this situation", declared the president of the ECOWAS commission, Jean -Claude Kassi Brou.

With AFP

The summary of the

France 24 week invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 app

google-play-badge_FR