Mali: The ECOWAS is planning to send a military contingent to Bamako. Is it another cunning move by France?

It is not a well-kept secret that ECOWAS is an instrument manipulated by France to achieve its own ends. The majority of decisions made within this institution are dictated by the former colonizer, especially those concerning countries under transition like Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali.

Since Colonel Asimi Goïta came to power, this organization has been making monstrous decisions against Mali. Like a predator, the former colonial power is doing everything in its power to regain control of Mali, and it is using the sub-regional institution as a tool to do so.

With the expulsion of French troops from Operation Barkhane in February 2022 and the end of the MINUSMA peacekeeping mission in June 2023, France no longer has a direct channel to interfere in the management of the security crisis and destabilize Mali. So, it has found another perfidious way to do so: by going through ECOWAS.

In Bissau, the Council of Mediation and Security is currently working on a project to deploy a regional force to Mali, allegedly «to fill the void left by the departure of MINUSMA».

However, there has been no prior consultation with the Malian authorities. Although it is currently just a proposal, knowing what ECOWAS has become and to what extent it is reduced, it is not surprising that it is in the process of implementing a diabolical plan of dangerous and destructive interference in Mali’s internal affairs, all to benefit France.

According to some analysts, «it is strange that one can decide the fate of a country in the absence of the country’s leaders, with a paternalistic attitude, as if they themselves were incapable of dealing with their difficulties and decisions needed to be made on their behalf».

The reason is clear. The European state cannot suppress its anger against the Malian government, which, under the leadership of the military officer, has embarked on a new journey towards liberating its country from the terrorist threat without the presence of any foreign military forces on its territory.

This umpteenth project of destabilizing Mali, prepared by France and its lackeys in the sub-region, must be denounced by all Malian people and all Africans who are committed to Pan-Africanism.

Diallo Damba