The President of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou and the President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbe, have arrived in Accra ahead of talks on the political crisis in Mali.
Also in Ghana are Presidents of Senegal and Burkina, Mackey Sall and Roch Marc Christian Kabore.
Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo, has also touched down at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra to attend the consultative meeting.
President of Côte d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, has also arrived for the meeting.
The West African leaders are scheduled to hold a consultative talks this morning on the Malian crisis.
Ghanaian President and Chairman of ECOWAS, Nana Akufo-Addo, convened the meeting to be held at the Peduase Lodge, beginning from 10am today.
About the Malian crisis
It would be recalled that in the early hours of August 18, 2020, junior Malian soldiers started firing bullets into the air at a military base in Kati, a town 15 kilometres away from the capital of Mali.
After their arrival to Bamako, the Malian capital, the mutineers arrested Minister of Finance Abdoulaye Daffe, the Chief of Staff of the National Guard Mahamane Touré and Moussa Timbiné and the Speaker of the National Assembly.
Prime Minister, Boubou Cissé, At the time appealed for dialogue with them but the soldiers insisted to have sincere frustrations.
Later, a spokesman for the M5-RFP opposition coalition welcomed their detention, describing it as a “popular insurrection”.
Ousted Malian President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, and other government officials including then Prime Minister were arrested and detained.
Opposition rejects transition deal
The meeting is coming off at a time when the opposition coalition which led mass protests in Mali ahead of last month’s coup has rejected a transition charter.
On Saturday, September 12, 2020, Mali’s military leadership agreed to establish a18-month interim government until an election could take place.
The agreement followed
three days of talks with opposition and civil society groups.
However, the M5-RFP group, which took part in the negotiations, observed that the resulting document was an attempt by military leaders to “grab and confiscate power”.
The group also stated that the document did not take into account what it said was a majority vote for a civilian interim leader, and “did not reflect the views and decisions of the Malian people”.
This is despite the fact the interim charter announced by the military leaders stating that an interim legislative body is to be established comprising M5-RFP members.
The ousted 75-year-old former president, it would be recalled, departed Mali last week for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 5 September for medical treatment.
That was after he suffered a minor stroke, according to military officials.
By Melvin Tarlue