Mali political crisis: No deal reached after Five ECOWAS leaders intervene

Guardian Nigeria

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00:00 Now, as far as you were concerned earlier, Dennis,

00:02 your point was that it was pretty straightforward for you.

00:05 The government in Mali is not doing

00:06 what the people want, hence the protest that we see now.

00:10 Going back to the intervention

00:11 that the ECOWAS block is putting up,

00:13 Niger's president, who is also the current chair of ECOWAS,

00:17 has said categorically that ECOWAS will take strong measures

00:21 that will contribute to the resolutions of the crisis.

00:23 But then, it goes on to insist that ECOWAS draws a red line

00:28 on calls for the president, Keita, to resign.

00:31 Now, has this position by ECOWAS any impact

00:36 on the perception of their nature of intervention?

00:39 - You know, they have already made up their mind

00:43 that they are going to insist that he does not resign.

00:51 Because if he resigns, it might affect a lot of them.

00:55 So, they have decided that that's what is a no-go area.

01:00 But the man has not done much for his people.

01:04 And that's why they are...

01:05 As they voted him into power,

01:10 they can also vote him out of power,

01:11 but they are not waiting for the voting time,

01:14 election time, to do that.

01:16 So, I think that's where the stalemate is right now.

01:23 - So, is this a right and wrong issue,

01:26 constitutional, non-constitutional issue,

01:28 or does it just boil down to people not wanting someone

01:31 in power and then being able to go back

01:34 and pull the person out of power?

01:35 Maybe a referendum ahead of the elections.

01:37 Is there any way out in the immediate term?

01:39 - I think the five West African leaders

01:49 are there to talk about it.

01:53 But they have to give way,

01:55 because there must be some kind of compromise.

01:57 Otherwise, the people are very, very serious.

02:02 They've been out on the streets for more than a week,

02:05 and they feel that this man has to go.

02:08 So, well, there might be a compromise somehow.

02:12 Otherwise, I think he will go.

02:15 The problems are too many for them to overlook.

02:18 And Mali is a desert country,

02:23 really suffering.

02:23 And then, of course, the terrorist situation

02:26 is very, very high, with remnants of Al-Qaeda,

02:29 poverty and everything that exists in that area.

02:35 - So, clearly, this is as much a political issue

02:41 as it is a social issue,

02:42 especially when you consider the fact

02:44 that there are factional leaders

02:45 whose voices are louder now more than ever,

02:47 who also want a piece of the power.

02:50 What's the way forward on the path to peace?

02:53 Like you said, it's not a straightforward journey for Mali.

02:57 - It's not a straightforward journey at all, indeed.

03:00 But we are looking at whether these leaders,

03:05 the West African leaders, are going to back us.

03:10 The mindset was that they will not allow the man to resign.

03:13 But I think they have to sit back again and talk more,

03:17 you know, let there be dialogue.

03:19 And if there is dialogue, to come to a compromise somehow,

03:24 then I think we'll have a solution.

03:25 Otherwise, it will continue until maybe they will have

03:30 to force him out of office.

03:33 - Now, the crisis in Mali has been recurring for years now,

03:39 but more than ever now, like I said earlier,

03:41 we have the echo of his voice is louder

03:44 than it has been in the years past.

03:46 I'd like you to help us to explore the risk implications

03:50 for surrounding neighboring countries to Mali

03:53 in the event of a continuing stalemate,

03:55 as we are seeing it now.

03:57 - We had their meeting some weeks ago in Mali.

04:05 And then of course, all these were, you know,

04:08 interventions by their...

04:13 But right now, it has come to a level

04:16 where these countries are suffering, you know,

04:20 and in fact, the leaders, the ECOAS leaders are worried

04:25 because if it starts from Mali, if you remember...

04:29 When these coups and counter coups start,

04:37 they start around that area, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea,

04:42 then it will start to spread to other West African countries.

04:46 So it is very, very important that they look at this thing

04:50 carefully right now and arrest the situation,

04:53 because if they don't, it will spread into Burkina Faso,

04:57 we're going into Guinea, Senegal,

04:59 and then of course, you start to have people

05:04 coming out and agitating that they don't want their leaders

05:07 who have not done very well.

05:12 - Dennis, many thanks to you for your time

05:13 and thoughts on Parliament West Africa.

05:15 Dennis Amakri, the CEO of Zoom Lens Security Solutions.

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