Col. Mamady Doumbouya, the president of Guinea’s military junta, attended a traditional military parade organized by Malian authorities on Thursday to commemorate the nation’s independence day while West African politicians met in New York on the fringes of the UN General Assembly.
At the emergency conference, it was decided to gradually apply penalties on Guinea’s junta due to its rigidity in establishing a timeline for returning to democratic authority.
According to the meeting’s summary, the leaders decided to impose “gradual sanctions” on a list of individuals connected to the junta in Guinea who will be named “very soon” by the bloc’s leadership.
In the last two years, there have been numerous military takeovers in the West African bloc.
Mali had coups in August 2020 and May 2021, with Guinea and Burkina Faso following in September 2021 and January 2022, respectively.
ECOWAS has agreed to a restoration to civilian governance in March 2024 and has eased the severe sanctions it had put on Mali’s military government.
Guinea and Mali, however, continue to be excluded from ECOWAS committees.
On Tuesday, September 27, Ecowas decided to send the presidents of Ghana, Togo, and Senegal to Mali to secure the release of the Ivorian soldiers who had been detained.
