The leadership of the Economic Community For West African States (ECOWAS) faces a big task-the restoration of democracy to the people of coup-scarred Mali.
The recent flurry of activities by the leadership is what every responsible bloc is expected to do under the circumstances.
Having laid out a roadmap for the restoration of democracy in the Sahelian country after an earlier interruption, it came to us and the civilized world as a shock that Col. Assimi Goita would throw a spanner into the works of the ECOWAS leadership.
The Malian Col tasted power and appears not to be ready to let go the trappings of this privileged position. West Africa and indeed the world have already confined military interferences in politics to the dark pages of history. The Myanmar Generals who have turned the military-in-politics into an industry and decide when to usurp power have been turned into political pariahs, shunned by the comity of the civilized.
The opportunist Malian Col and the junta he is leading should be told without minced words that they cannot hold the people of Mali to ransom.
The helm is not his family property and knowledge about how to manage a political system is not something he is conversant with. That should be left to civilians, period.
Mali is a restive country troubled by poverty and attacks from bandits and now the nonsense from the Col and a junta whose obsession is simply filling their pockets with the goodies of the land as their compatriots languish in abject poverty.
Col Goita and indeed others who fancy following the ignominious path of military adventurism should not be accorded soft-landing.
The innocent persons who want to lead decent lives and partake of the national cake are many in Mali and should not be deprived of their God-given rights by military adventurists who have nothing to offer.
These antiquated interventions by megalomaniacs in uniform should be stemmed in our scheme of things.
Diplomacy, it is our stance should not apply when coup-makers are being dealt with. The military’s role in the affairs of a country is restricted to the protection of the territorial integrity of their countries and not vetting the performance of elected governments.
The ECOWAS leadership we maintain should be tough in their dealings with the junta leaders and others who think that they have the better wherewithal to manage countries.
A destabilized Mali will impact adversely on the fortunes of the sub-region. In a post COVID-19 era such hassle should not be allowed. We have had enough of the crap from Mali.
ECOWAS can only send a strong warning to others with similar trappings as the Malian coup-makers through a decisive action.
Mali and the rest of West Africa neither need adventurists nor strongmen; the sub-region needs nation-builders whose legacies shall endure long after they have played their parts and departed terra firma.
We count on ECOWAS Chairman, President Akufo-Addo, not to look back as he and others work to ensure that the adventurists are compelled to return to barracks, never to try becoming headmasters of civilian administrations.