The College of Heads of State of the Confederation of Sahel States (AES) reacted to the conclusions of the last ECOWAS summit, held on December 15 in Abuja, Nigeria.
The AES, which also accuses France, a former colonial power, of being at the origin of the body's decision, rejects these conclusions.
In Mali, Hamidou Doumbia, political secretary of the Yelema party, deplores the current tensions between Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and ECOWAS.
He believes that it is possible for these countries to remain in the AES while maintaining their membership in the sub-regional organization.
“The Alliance of Sahel States is not incompatible with membership of ECOWAS. In my opinion, we must work to ease relations with our community organization, which remains the most successful regional economic community in the African Union.“, he assures.
“The latest decisions of the ECOWAS heads of state take note of our desire to leave the organization from January 2025, but they also evoke a transition period to allow negotiations. This phase could lead our States to reconsider their position.“
Various reactions to the future of the Sahel and ECOWAS states
For his part, Amadou Aya, member of the Codem party, defends the right of the AES countries to reject the proposal of the ECOWAS. According to him, the subregional organization should adopt another approach.
“ECOWAS should set up a technical team to work not only on deadlines, but also on all aspects related to the collaboration between the AES countries and ECOWAS, as stipulated in the communiqué of the AES countries of last December 14“, he says.
“These States have already taken steps to facilitate the free movement of people and goods of other ECOWAS members within their territories.“
In response to the six-month transition proposed by the ECOWASthe College of Heads of State of the Alliance of Sahel States decided this Sunday to place the defense and security forces of member countries on maximum alert.
They also call on the populations of the AES to be more vigilant, to report any suspicious behavior to the authorities and to reject proposals for recruitment into terrorist groups.
