MALI has been suspended from the West African regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States.

The decision was announced after an emergency meeting of the bloc’s leaders in Accra, Ghana, on Sunday.

Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Shirley Botchwey, told journalists that the Mali junta’s non-adherence to the mediatory role of ECOWAS necessitated the decision of ECOWAS leaders.

ECOWAS envoy, former Nigerian president, Goodlluck Jonathan, had briefed the meeting behind closed-doors on his mediatory trips to Mali last week.

A communiqué released after the meeting stated that an extraordinary summit was convened to review the socio-political crisis in Mali following the arrest, detention and subsequent resignations of the president and the prime minister of the transition on May 26, as well as to determine the next line of action for the transition.

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The communiqué said after the presentation of the report by Jonathan, the heads of state expressed concerns about the crisis in Mali, which was coming half-way to the end of the agreed transition period in the context of the security challenges related to incessant terrorist attacks and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The heads of state also demanded the immediate release of the former president and prime minister of the transition who were kept under house arrest.