Tag Archives: Burkina Faso and Niger

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Mali’s military government suspends all political activities

Maravi Post Reporter

Mali’s military government has suspended all political activities across the country “until further notice”.

The decree signed on Wednesday by transitional president, General Assimi Goita, cited “reasons of public order” and applies to both parties and organisations.

It was issued a few days after a rare pro-democracy rally and ahead of a planned protest on Friday against the junta which has ruled the country since coups in 2020 and 2021.

Hundreds of activists last weekend defied government threats and demonstrated in the capital, Bamako, against a bill recommending the dissolution of all political parties.

“I’m not surprised, I expected this because this is their way of preventing us from carrying out our activities, but we will continue to defend democracy in Mali,” said one of its leaders, Cheick Oumar Doumbia.

Civil society figures, political parties, and labour leaders have called for “a rapid and credible return to constitutional order through the organisation of transparent, inclusive, and peaceful elections.

The junta originally committed to holding elections in February 2022, but that timeline has been pushed back several times.

This is not the first time the military government has suspended the activities of political parties on the eve of important decisions.

In April 2024, it announced a suspension ahead of an “inter-Malian dialogue” that called for the transition period to be extended from two to five years.

Last year Mali formed a new partnership known as the Alliance of Sahel States, together with Burkina Faso and Niger, after military leaders in the three countries quit the West African bloc, ECOWAS.

Some analysts described it as an attempt to legitimise their military governments amid coup-related sanctions and strained relations with neighbours.

All three have cut ties with former colonial power, France, and are instead building partnerships with Russia.

For more than a decade, Mali has faced attacks by armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State organisation, and the threat has been growing.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/14/43/94/02/ED_PYR_1443942_20250509070818.mp4
Lifestyle

African Union ends Gabon suspension after Oligui election

Maravi Post Reporter

Gabon is back in the community of African states after nearly two years out in the cold.

The African Union (AU) said Wednesday that sanctions against Libreville had been lifted, reintegrating the central African country into the bloc.

The AU’s peace and security council said in a statement on X that it was convinced with Gabon’s political transition.

Gabon was suspended when General Brice Oligui Nguema took power after overthrowing president Ali Bongo in August 2023.

In April, Oligui overwhelmingly won a presidential election where he was virtually unchallenged.

The lifting of sanctions comes just days before Oligui’s inauguration as president. Gabon’s foreign affairs ministry welcomed the removal of sanctions.

Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger remain suspended by the African Union for failure to revert to civilian rule. The countries are still ruled by juntas that overthrew popularly elected leaders.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/13/73/14/05/ED_PYR_1373145_20250501055828.mp4
Lifestyle

Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to have access to the Atlantic ocean

Maravi Post Reporter

The landlocked countries of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have endorsed an initiative by Morocco to give them access to the Atlantic Ocean, the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The foreign ministers of the three military-ruled West African nations shared their countries positions during a meeting Monday with King Mohammed VI in Rabat, the capital of Morocco, according to a ministry statement.

The three-nation block of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger announced last year that they were leaving the regional bloc known as ECOWAS. They then created their own security partnership, known as the Alliance of Sahel States, severed military ties with longstanding Western partners such as U.S. and France, and turned to Russia for military support.

In December 2023, Morocco announced a trade initiative to facilitate Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger’s access to the Atlantic Ocean using Moroccan ports after ECOWAS imposed trade restrictions on the the three junta-led countries.

The foreign ministers of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger reaffirmed their “full support for and commitment to accelerating its implementation,” during the royal meeting, the ministry said. The meeting comes at a time of growing tensions between Morocco’s regional rival Algeria and the Sahel states. Last month, Algeria says it shot down a Malian drone when it crossed into its air space near the border town of Tin Zaouatine. Mali denied the drone crossed the border.

Source: Africanews

https://video.euronews.com/mp4/ED/13/54/72/07/ED_PYR_1354727_20250429120518.mp4
Lifestyle

Jihadi activities increase sevenfold in Kayes region, near east of Senegal

Maravi Post Reporter

A report by the Timbuktu Institute think tank has indicated that the jihadist activities mainly by the JNIM Jihadi group, have expanded into the region of Kayes between 2021 and 2024.

According to the institute, the JNIM is now trying to infiltrate eastern Senegal as it has increased its attacks sevenfold in the past three years.

The Kaye region is a tri-border area of Mali, Mauritania and Senegal.

JNIM, an extremist group linked to al-Qaida, has orchestared dozens of attacks in the broader Sahel region that encompasses Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Benin and Chad.

Benin has been the latest victim with recent attack claiming the lives of at least 70 soldiers and has for years faced spillover violence in its north from Sahel countries like Burkina Faso and Niger in their battle against Islamic extremist groups.

The tri-border area has long been a hotbed for extremist violence, primarily concentrated around the W-Arly-Pendjari Complex.

The large national park spills over into all three countries and has become a launching pad for cross-border attacks by militants.

Source: Africanews

Lifestyle

After coups, West African nations hurry to leave the regional bloc that opposed military takeovers

Maravi Post Reporter

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The coup-hit nations of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are in haste to quit West Africa’s regional bloc without following its rules of exit, the body said Thursday as its ministers met to deliberate on growing division and political tension in the region.

At the ministerial meeting in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, the bloc known as ECOWAS faulted claims made by the countries’ juntas that their unprecedented decision to withdraw their membership was because of the coup-related sanctions the bloc imposed on their countries instead of supporting their development and peace efforts.

The three juntas announced late last month that they were quitting ECOWAS after the coups they staged soured ties with the bloc and international partners.

It’s the first time in the bloc’s nearly 50 years of existence that its members have withdrawn in such a manner. Analysts say it’s an unprecedented blow to the group that could threaten efforts to return democracy and help stabilize the increasingly fragile region.

The president of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray, told reporters at the meeting that the countries’ “hasty decision” did not follow the requirements stated by the association’s protocol, including a one-year notice period before such a process could be completed.

“More importantly, the three member states have not really reflected on the implications of this decision on the citizens,” Touray said.

Separately, senior government officials in the junta-led countries on Wednesday dismissed possible talks with ECOWAS over the issue, further diminishing any hopes of dialogue to resolve the crisis.

While Niger’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country is going ahead with the withdrawal plan “without delay,” Mali’s foreign affairs minister Abdoulaye Diop accused the regional body of partiality and failing to act in other countries where democracy is being violated.”

Source: Africanews