Kati
Mali coup: Ghana to host Extraordinary ECOWAS Summit in Accra
Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, has stated that the country will on Sunday, May 30, host an Extraordinary ECOWAS Summit in Accra. Addressing the press, Saturday, Mrs. Ayorkor Botchwey noted that the purpose of the meeting is to enable several heads of state, led by Chairman President Akufo-Addo to address the current political tensions in Mali. “In line with the ECOWAS protocol on democracy and good governance, the President of the Republic, Nana-Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo in his capacity as chair of the ECOWAS authority of heads of state and government, following due consultations with his peers decided to convene this extraordinary summit. “The purpose of the Summit is to enable the authority to deliberate and take consequential decisions on the evolving polit...
UN secretary-general calls for release of civilian leaders in Mali
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for civilian leaders in Mali to be released, after military officers upset with a government reshuffle detained the president and prime minister at an army camp. “I am deeply concerned by news of detention of civilian leaders of the Malian transition,” Guterres said on Twitter. He continued: “I call for calm & their unconditional release.” President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane lead an interim government, installed under the threat of regional sanctions following a putsch in August, and the detentions on Monday raised fears of a second coup. Two senior officials, who declined to be named, told AFP that soldiers had taken Ndaw and Ouane to the Kati military camp on the outskirts of Bamako. Their detentions fo...
Military arrest Mali’s president, premier, defence minister
Military officers in Mali arrested the president, prime minister and defence minister of the country’s interim government on Monday after a cabinet reshuffle, multiple diplomatic and government sources told Reuters. President Bah Ndaw, Prime Minister Moctar Ouane and defence minister Souleymane Doucoure were all taken to a military base in Kati outside the capital Bamako, the sources said. The arrests bring further uncertainty to the West African country after a military coup in August overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. Ndaw and Ouane had been tasked with overseeing an 18-month transition back to civilian rule after the takeover, but many inside government and the opposition worried about the military’s hold over key positions. The arrests occurred after the announcement of a chan...
Mali junta postpones transfer of powers meeting as cracks emerge
Mali’s military junta on Saturday postponed the first meeting on the transfer of power after rising tensions with the group that sparked the August 18 coup. The junta had invited civic groups, political organisations and former rebels to consultations on Saturday, but said in a statement that the meeting was postponed at the last minute to a later date due to “organisational reasons”. A protest coalition that had campaigned against former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the June 5 Movement, was not invited to the meeting and accused the new military rulers of trying to hijack the coup. The group has demanded that the military junta give it a role in the transition to civilian rule, in keeping with its role in spearheading Keita’s ouster. The military has promised to do so, though without...
West African delegation ‘very hopeful’ after meeting Mali junta
A West African delegation visiting Mali to push for a speedy return to civilian rule following a coup said it was “very hopeful” on Saturday after meeting with the country’s military junta and the president it ousted. The head of the delegation from the regional Ecowas bloc, former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, said that detained Malian president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was doing relatively well. “We saw him, he’s very fine,” said Jonathan, who had earlier met for half an hour with the soldiers who seized power on Tuesday, including new strongman Colonel Assimi Goita. Jonathan told AFP that negotiations were going well and he was “very hopeful”. Rebel soldiers seized Keita and other leaders after a mutiny on Tuesday, dealing another deep blow to a country already struggling with a b...
Kaduna denies report on abduction along Abuja-Kaduna Highway
The Kaduna State government has denied media reports on the abduction of travelers along the Kaduna-Abuja highway on Thursday. The government said there was no such incident on that day as reported by some news platforms. The Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, alongside the Police Commissioner, Umar Musa Muri and Operation Thunder Strike Sector Commander, Colonel Ibrahim Gambari, led journalists to the location where the said abduction was said to have taken place to interact with residents of the area. Aruwan pointed out that their findings revealed that contrary to what was reported, nobody was abducted on that day. “The Operation Thunder Strike team is working on this road. The police too are working here, Operation Puff Adder, the Intelligence Response ...
