Coups in Mali, Chad & Guinea: Is democracy at risk in West Africa? | DW News
ECOWAS is getting tough with Guinea: After the military coup there, the Economic Community of West African States has imposed travel bans and financial sanctions on the country's new leaders and their families. At a summit in Ghana Ecowas leaders also demanded the unconditional release of Guinean President Alpha Condé as well as a "very short" transition period.These demands are the bloc's toughest response yet to the military takeover in Guinea earlier this month. The announcement was made as coup leaders in the country wrapped up a week of consultations with various stakeholders to map out a framework for a transitional government. And it's not just Guinea. Across western and central Africa three more countries have been hit by military takeovers: Mali, Niger and Chad. First Mali, Guinea's direct neighbor: Since last August there have been two successful coups in the country: Malian Forces mutinied in August 2020 forcing 75-year-old President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta to resign, after months of protests.Then, in May of this year, another coup: The Army stripped the next President, 71-year-old Bah N'daw, of power after just nine months in office.Vice President Colonel Assimi Goïta, seized power. He's just 37, making him one of Africa's youngest leaders.Further east in Niger, the 2021 election of Mohamed Bazoum was the first democratic handover of power in the country's post-independence history. But his inauguration looked to be in jeopardy in March when heavy gunfire broke out close to the President's official residence, in the capital Niamey. A rebel military unit had tried to reach the palace - only to be beaten back by the Presidential Guard.Within hours, the government declared the coup thwarted and Bazoum was inaugurated two days later.And Niger's neighbor Chad saw the military seize power in April this year after the death of longtime President Idriss Deby.The army installed one of their own, Deby's son, Mahamat Idriss Déby, as the new president - ignoring and repealing the Constitution, and suspending Parliament.
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