(Credit: MINUSMA/Harandane Dicko) United Nations peacekeepers on patrol in the Eastern Sector of Mali.

By  Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED  NATIONS  –   NEW   YORK –    The  United Nations called on authorities in troubled west African nation Mali to take immediate action to initiate critical reforms and lay the groundwork for credible elections as the security situation worsens.   The UN Security Council met Monday to discuss the derailing of Mali’s transitional government following the apparent forced departure of both the President and Prime Minister last month, by the leader of last August’s military coup.  El-Ghassim Wane,  Head of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA)  briefed the 15-member body via video-conference in the wake of a coup d’état in the landlocked West African country on 24 May – the second in nine months – that cast a shadow over efforts to restore an elected democratic government. 

“Mali is at a critical juncture and we cannot allow it to slide into further instability, with drastic consequences for the sub-region and beyond.”

-El-Ghassim Wane,  Head of UN MINUSMA

The United Nations, EU, U.S. and the African Union have strongly denounced the “kidnapping” of Mali’s civilian leadership.  Transitional vice-president Colonel Assimi Goïta, a leader of the August 2020 coup, announced  that he had taken power. In a statement read on national television, Goïta maintained that he had not been consulted in the government reshuffle and blamed N’Daw and Ouane for nationwide strikes and protests.  

“The time has come for Malian leaders to rise above partisan politics and personal interests and work together in earnest to address the crisis in the interest of their country and its future,”  the head of MINUSMA said.  He stressed that MINUSMA’s support will remain critical, he emphasized. Regarding  the security situation, he said that it remains a big concern in the north and centre of the country, with a devastating impact on the everyday lives of civilians. Already, there are more displaced Malians than during the peak of the crisis in June 2013, he said, with many people living in very difficult conditions.