Defiant Mali junta banks on mass public support to beat Ecowas ban
People take to the streets in Malian capital Bamako to protest perceived interference by France and its Western allies following sanctions by Ecowas. PHOTO | AFP
When the West African bloc Ecowas imposed sanctions on Mali, the country’s junta leader Col Assimi Goïtata called for mass protests to denounce the blockade. It was a show of just how popular his military revolution has become in Mali.
Heads of state of the bloc on January 9 imposed tougher sanctions on the landlocked Sahel country after concluding that the transition administration had failed to meet its deadline to conduct elections and hand over power to a civilian administration by February 27.
