ECOWAS leaders have started arriving in Ghana for the extraordinary summit on the political crisis in Mali.
Liberian President, George Weah, is one of the leaders who have so far arrived.
Former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, has also arrived.
Receiving the leaders at the Kotoka International Airport is information minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.
Already, junta leader of Mali, Assimi Goita, has flew to Ghana.
Mr. Goita is reported to have left Mali on Saturday, May 30, 2021, for the summit.
President Nana Akufo-Addo is convening the Summit which aims at finding solution to the second coup d’tat in Mali in nine months.
According to reports, Mr. Goita flew to Ghana on Saturday.
About the summit
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, gave details about the summit to the media at a press briefing held at the Information Ministry on Saturday morning, May 29, 2021.
According to her, 10 heads of state and Governments will be attending the summit in Accra tomorrow, Sunday, May 30, 2021.
The President of Senegal, Macky Sall, will be represented by his Foreign Affairs Minister, she revealed.
The republic of Benin, she said, has confirmed participation.
She said in line with the ECOWAS protocol on democracy and good governance, President Nana Akufo-Addo is convening the summit.
The purpose of the summit is to enable the authorities deliberate and take consequential decision on the evolving security situation in Mali, according to her.
She added that one of the mediators of the Mali’s political crisis, former President Goodluck Jonathan, will report to the summit tomorrow on the outcome of his fact-finding mission to Mali.
She expressed hope that all political actors in Mali will accept the outcome of the Summit to ensure.
Mr Akufo-Addo will be chairing the summit in his capacity as Chairman of ECOWAS.
It will be the second time Mr Akufo-Addo is hosting an extraordinary summit on Mali. The summit took place in 2020 at the Peduase Presidential Lodge in Aburi, Eastern Region of Ghana.
‘Release President, Prime Minister’
Already, the Mediators of ECOWAS in the Malian crisis, including former President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria, have demanded the immediate release of the transitional president and Prime Minister of Mali.
The Mediators made the call in a communique.
In the Communique directly made available to the media outlets by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration of Ghana, the mediators requested that President Bah N’Daw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane, should be released.
Mali’s transitional leaders were on Monday, May 24, 2021, stripped off their powers by the army.
Since then, the President and Prime Minister have been in detention.
According to the foreign Minister, at the end of the summit tomorrow, a Communique will be issued.
At the behest of the President of the Republic, an ECOWAS Mediation team, led by H.E. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, ECOWAS Special Envoy and Mediator for Mali, embarked on a fact-finding mission to Mali from 25th to 26th May, 2021 to assess the situation and explore opportunities for the resolution of the crisis. H.E. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will, therefore, report to the Summit on the outcome of the mission.
May I indicate that the convening of the Extraordinary Session demonstrates the unwavering commitment of the President of the Republic towards addressing the political situation in Mali.
“It would be recalled that barely a week after his assumption of office as Chair of the ECOWAS Authority, H.E. the President, convened an emergency Summit, held at Peduase, in response to the military intervention, which saw the ousting of the then President H.E. Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on 18th August, 2020. That meeting took important decisions, including a demand on the Malian authorities to ensure that the Transition Government was Civilian-led and should last for a period of eighteen (18) months, with effect from 15th September, 2020. The Summit also affirmed that once a civilian-led transition government had assumed office, ECOWAS within the context of its protocols will assist Mali to return to democratic governance. It is important to note that H.E. the President has since been at the centre of efforts, including mediation initiatives, to bring lasting peace and stability to Mali,” the Foreign Minister said.
“It is hoped that all the political actors in Mali will support the outcome of the Extraordinary Summit to be held tomorrow in order to restore constitutional order in our sister country as soon as practicable. The outcome of the Summit will be critical to sustaining the momentum for the return of democracy and stability in Mali,” she stressed.
By Melvin Tarlue