The G5 Sahel will no longer count, among its members, Mali, which has resolved to slam the door of the organization, accusing it of being “instrumentalized” by the “outside”.
In a press release, published on Sunday May 15, the transitional government in Mali announced its decision “to withdraw from all organs and bodies of the G5 Sahel, including the Joint Force” anti-jihadist.
Mali protests against the fact that the conference of heads of state of the G5 scheduled for last February in Bamako, and which should “consecrate the beginning of the Malian presidency of the G5”, has still not taken place.
If, officially, this situation is explained by the current political context that Mali is going through, the Malian government suspects “maneuvers of an extra-regional State” aimed at harming it. This country thus accuses the organization of jeopardizing its autonomy and of showing “serious dysfunction” within it.
The ruling junta in Bamako is following its course of renunciation of the agreements in which Mali is committed. In early May, it ended the 2014 cooperation treaty with France, as well as the 2013 and 2020 agreements setting the legal framework for the presence of the anti-jihadist force Barkhane and Takuba, a grouping of European special forces initiated by Paris.
These measures are consecutive to the deterioration of relations between Bamako and Western countries, due to the rapprochement of Mali with Russia, and particularly to the solicitation of the services of the Russian private security company Wagner by the Malian transitional government.
However, Mali is keen to maintain its bilateral relations with the other G5 member countries of Mauritania, Chad, Burkina and Niger.
Relations between Mali and ECOWAS are still tense for not having agreed on the electoral timetable. Bamako is still languishing under the economic sanctions of the West African organization, which make the daily life of the population difficult. Last month, hundreds of Malians marched to demand the withdrawal of their country from ECOWAS.
By OMA Newsletter N° 704 of 17/05/2022
The OMA, NGO with an Intercontinental vocation
For the development of cultural exchanges
Valuing human potential
The promotion and consolidation of Africa’s development, and
Inter-African integration
