To analyse

Case of Ivorian soldiers detained in Mali: why Togo imposed itself as a mediator

The outgoing President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbé, during a visit to Côte d'Ivoire, November 20, 2017. REUTERS / Luc Gnago

Text by: David Baché

5 mins

The Ivorian president says he wants to resume normal relations with Mali after the outcome of the crisis of the 49 soldiers pardoned by the Malian transitional president on Friday evening and returned to Abidjan the following evening.

Six months of intense diplomatic tensions between the two neighboring countries, which Togo has greatly contributed to appease and resolve.

Why did Lomé play such a role, how was it accepted by both parties?

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First of all, this is not a first: Togo had already played this role of mediator last year, between Mali and ECOWAS, when the West African organization imposed economic sanctions to force Bamako to s commit to a return to constitutional order.

For several months, Togo has been the link between the two parties to obtain a compromise and the lifting of sanctions.

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The choice of Bamako

Today, Togo is once again playing this role of mediator, still at the service of Mali, in the conflict which this time opposes it to Côte d'Ivoire.

"Always at the service of Mali" because in both cases, it was the Malian transitional authorities who asked Togo to facilitate the dialogue.

This had also caused a stir, in its time, on the side of ECOWAS, which already had a mediator for Mali in the person of the Nigerian Goodluck Jonathan.

In the end, the cohabitation between these two mediators had gone fairly well.

And in the current folder too. 

A mediator being supposed to be impartial, at equal distance from the two parties, one could however have imagined that Abidjan would challenge a mediator chosen by the opposing party.

Validated by Abidjan

But it turns out that the Togolese and Ivorian presidents have also had good relations for years.

Alassane Ouattara calls Faure Gnassingbé "my brother", they mediated together in Benin in 2016 and, two years later, in 2018, when the question of a fourth term for the Togolese president arose after a reform of the Constitution, Alassane Ouattara was rather one of the heads of state of ECOWAS, among his supporters.

Of those who agreed to "

 ", these were his words at the time. 

Today, as part of this mediation with Mali, Alassane Ouattara did not fail to thank Faure Gnassingbé warmly and on several occasions for his work.

Togo was therefore accepted, validated by Côte d'Ivoire, but if Togo imposed itself as a mediator, it is above all because Mali chose it.

Why did Mali choose Togo? 

The first reason is that Togo has from the start positioned itself as an ally of Mali, as an ally of the new authorities resulting from the military coup of August 2020. 

ECOWAS and the African Union, in particular, condemned this putsch: ECOWAS and UEMOA even took sanctions against Mali to force Bamako to propose a more acceptable electoral calendar, and a shorter duration of the transition.

Within ECOWAS, on this issue of sanctions, there were supporters of the hard line - Ghana, Gambia or Niger, for example -, and there were supporters of more flexibility and understanding: in head, Togo.  

It is interesting here to recall the words of the Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdoulaye Diop, last May: “

 ” to the transition process.

“ 

 » 

Robert Dussey

Then there are more personal elements, but which are undoubtedly important, and which concern more particularly Robert Dussey: the Togolese Minister for Foreign Affairs is, with his President Faure Gnassingbe, a tireless craftsman of this mediation work, whose we no longer count the round trips to Bamako - we probably don't know them all.

Robert Dussey therefore prides himself on having privileged relations with Colonel Assimi Goita, whom he knew even before the soldier became president of the transition, even before he led his coup.

It is also said that Assimi Goïta calls Robert Dussey "big brother", - which RFI has never witnessed directly.

The origin remains imprecise, but Robert Dussey himself presents it as an asset and claims this proximity.

Moreover, Robert Dussey likes to present himself as a man of dialogue and as a man of peace and does not hesitate, to convince of this, to recall his personal history: before becoming a minister, he was a seminarian.

He studied Catholic dogma within the community of Franciscan friars.

Something to instil patience and the spirit of peace - faith, perhaps too!

- necessary for those who want to resolve the thorniest conflicts.

Visibility of Togo

In addition to Minister Dussey's spirit of peace, Togo also finds its interest in it, by positioning itself as a major player within ECOWAS and, more generally, on the African continent.

To gain visibility, importance, and legitimacy.

Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé is serving his fourth term, having won re-election by more than 70% of the vote in disputed elections, and after succeeding his own father, who ruled for 38 years - until his death - on Togo.

Gnassingbé Eyadema was nicknamed "the baobab", powerful and ineradicable.

If his son, who already has almost 18 years in power and who might wish not to stop there, gains the nickname, the stature of "mediator for peace", it will be an undeniable success for Faure Gnassingbé.

And an asset, on the international scene,  

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