West Africa bloc chairman says Mali’s coup was “contagious”

Feb. 3, 2022

The Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Nana Akufo-Addo on Thursday said the coup in Mali was “contagious” and had led to subsequent coups in the region.

Akufo-Addo explained that Mali’s coup in August 2020 was followed by a second military coup in the West African nation in May 2020, one in Guinea in September 2021, a coup in Burkina Faso, and a failed coup in Guinea-Bissau on Tuesday.

At the opening of a summit of West African leaders in Ghana’s capital Accra, to discuss the coup in Burkina Faso, Akufo-Addo said the trend must be contained before it devastates the whole region.

“This summit will focus on the emerging threats in our region that stem from the military’s interference in Mali and its contagious influence in Guinea and Burkina Faso,” he said.

REUTERS