What military force for ECOWAS?
Senegalese soldiers from ECOWAS deployed in The Gambia.
(Illustrative image) AFP - CARL DE SOUZA
Text by: David Baché
2 mins
The Economic Community of West African States wants to equip itself with an anti-terrorist and anti-coup military force.
The announcement was made Sunday, December 4 at the end of the summit of heads of state of the organization, in Abuja.
Advertising
Read more
ECOWAS
aspires
to the creation of a stabilization force which should make it possible to
fight against insecurity in the sub-region
.
When the jihadists seized northern Mali in 2012, the West African organization was already planning to mobilize a regional force.
But the reflection had never materialized and Mali had to solicit the French army - Operation Serval - then the Misma of the African Union, which became Minusma when the United Nations took over.
For
Niagalé Bagayoko
, president of the African Security Sector Network, “
this will pose institutional difficulties
”.
She also wonders about the question of resources: “
Have the shortcomings in equipment and logistics, which were largely the cause of its inability to deploy to Mali in 2012, been resolved?
".
An alternative to Minusma
While
the future of the United Nations Mission in Mali
seems uncertain, ECOWAS is said to be looking for a replacement option.
However, "
the mechanism that will be put in place cannot be limited, like the Minusma, to a mandate focused on Malian territory
," said Niagalé Bagayoko.
The crisis has now spread to too many countries.
One wonders about the coordination with the Accra initiative, which has also made it known that it wanted to deploy a force in the Sahel.
Furthermore, “
what about the African Union?
asks the President of the African Network for the Security Sector.
The new West African force must counter the jihadist terrorist threat, but also coups d'etat.
It is unclear whether, beyond military putsches, institutional coups, in other words failure to respect the number of mandates provided for by the Constitution, are also concerned.
► To read also: ECOWAS gives Mali until January to release the 46 Ivorian soldiers
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
ECOWAS