Mali’s government on Monday made an appeal to the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) to remove sanctions that will have severe consequences for the population, reported Reuters. The UEMOA has eight member countries including Mali.
In a statement released on Monday, the Malian government said it had never been formally notified of the sanctions imposed by UEMOA, which it said were a violation of procedure, describing the measures as “disproportionate, inhumane, illegitimate and illegal”.
Mali’s government blamed the sanctions for $31 million in bond defaults last week.
“The Malian government urges UEMOA to comply with community rules and therefore to lift, in a spirit of justice, equity and solidarity, these inappropriate sanctions which will have severe, inevitable socio-economic consequences for the populations of Mali and of the West African sub-region,” the statement said.
West Africa’s ECOWAS bloc and the UEMOA regional monetary union had imposed sanctions on Mali on January 9 after the ruling military body that first seized power in a 2020 coup decided to postpone national elections.
The UEMOA instructed all financial institutions under its umbrella to suspend Mali’s membership with immediate effect.
The 2020 coup, which ousted former Malian president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, was followed by a second one in May last year.
Mali was hit with the strictest sanctions after its military junta went back on an agreement to organize elections this month and instead proposed holding power until 2025.
Last week, the European Union has imposed sanctions on five members of Mali’s ruling junta, including Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga and four other members of interim president Assimi Goita’s inner circle.
There had been recent coups in Guinea and Burkina Faso as well. ECOWAS also imposed financial sanctions on Guinea’s coup leaders but stopped short in Burkina Faso where it said the military junta was willing to work towards a return to constitutional order.
