The leaders of the countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), meeting in an extraordinary summit Thursday in New York, expressed their impatience to Colonel Mamady Doumbouya and to those who have been in command with him since the putsch which overthrew civilian power in Guinea in September 2021. Tension has been rising gradually over the past few weeks between the new head of ECOWAS, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, president of Guinea-Bissau and the military junta in power in Conakry.
(See once more : Guinea: ECOWAS imposes “progressive sanctions” on the military in power
Umaro Sissoco Embalo, himself the victim of an attempted putsch in his country in February 2022, is firmly opposed to the idea of a long transition period. In an interview with France 24 and RFI on the sidelines of the United Nations summit in New York on September 21, he described “unacceptable” any transition that would exceed 24 months, denying having agreed with the junta on a 36-month timetable. A statement that angered the Guinean authorities.
In a video posted on the Facebook account of the Guinean presidency, Colonel Amara Camara, one of the main figures of the junta, denounced the remarks of Umaro Sissoco Embalo. “We are not in a puppet or reality TV relationship” he asserted, qualifying the declarations of the president of ECOWAS as “gross lie” resembling “bullying”.
(See once more : Guinea: the junta castigates the president of ECOWAS
A particularly acerbic charge, which did not fail to make ECOWAS react. After nearly a year of condemnation, mediation, and warning of the deteriorating situation in Guinea, ECOWAS has finally announced a “taking progressive sanctions”. It has suspended all financial assistance and transactions from its financial institutions with Guinea. A certain number of personalities are also struck by the freezing of their financial assets and by a ban on traveling in the ECOWAS area.
Screw turn required
In two years, ECOWAS has seen a succession of military coups in West Africa. Twice in 2020 and 2021 in Mali, in 2021 in Guinea and in 2022 in Burkina Faso. Since then, the organization has multiplied summits, missions and pressure to try to shorten the so-called periods “of transition” in these countries, but it is confronted with authorities who do not intend to let go of the controls anytime soon. “ECOWAS is trying to reposition itself and relegitimize itself” says Martin Mourre, researcher affiliated with the Institute of African Worlds (IMAf-EHESS) “Sanctioning Guinea means appearing credible on the international scene”.
(Re)read: Guinea: where are we a year following the coup?
Until now, Guinea had been relatively spared from the sanctions. But faced with the distrust of the junta led by Mamady Doumbouya, the country might soon experience the same fate as its Malian neighbour: at the end of January 2022, ECOWAS had imposed a commercial and financial embargo on Mali, in response to the junta’s plan to stay in power for up to five more years. An effective turn of the screw, since the military in power have since backtracked and pledged to organize elections in February 2024. In exchange, ECOWAS lifted the embargo last July.
The organization wants at all costs to advance transitions in the sub-region and stem any risk of contagion. She also hopes to silence those who accuse her of being at the service of Western powers, notably France, and of practicing a policy of double standards. She won her case once morest Mali and Burkina Faso and seems to want to bring Guinea into line. But she is surprisingly conciliatory vis-à-vis Chad, where the transition promised by Mahamat Idriss Déby seems set to be extended – and therefore last three years.
(Re)read: national dialogue in Chad: is the military transition coming to an end?
ECOWAS is also struggling to hold a clear line on the issue third terms. “We have the impression that it is variable geometry: the coup in Conakry had been very timidly condemned, because Alpha Condé was in his third term“ recalls Martin Mourre. “But at the same time, Alassane Ouattara is also in his third term, and there is a lot of talk regarding Macky Sall in Senegal…” However, these countries are not subject to any sanctions or warnings from ECOWAS.
bra de fer
For its part, Guinea affirms that it does not want to “focus on the duration but on the content of the transition”explains Ousmane Gaoual Diallo, government spokesperson, to Young Africa. “Mali and Burkina have the advantage of not having to review their electoral register. We have been suffering in Guinea for twelve years because of this problem. Should we settle it definitively or leave it to another generation?” he asks.
An insufficient justification in the eyes of ECOWAS, which accompanies its sanctions with a warning: Guinea has one month to provide a transition schedule “acceptable”, under penalty of new and even more severe sanctions. The firmness displayed by ECOWAS is also a reminder: “Coups are unacceptable in the ECOWAS space”insisted the President of the ECOWAS Commission, the Gambian Omar Alieu Touray, when the sanctions were announced.
(See once more : Ivorian soldiers arrested in Mali, the controversy swells
A call to order which should deter any new attempt at destabilization in the region, which is already facing tensions between Mali and Côte d’Ivoire with the arrest and detention in Mali since July 10 of 49 soldiers Ivorians. One more standoff to manage for the Economic Community of West African States and which might well undermine its credibility on the international scene and in the sub-region a little more.
