“The starting point is the Accra summit on January 9. The nature of the sanctions that have been taken against Mali has truly outraged the actors of African civil society”. Serge Lianhoué Bayala is from Burkina Faso and what is happening in neighboring Mali concerns this young activist, intellectual, principal responsible for 2H for Kamita, a popular education organization aimed at young people. She is one of the signatories of the appeal entitled “Stop the aggression of the Malian people in struggle! “. A resolutely pan-Africanist appeal launched on January 13 and signed across the continent, like the Afrikki citizen network which serves as their platform.
(Re)read: Mali: “very harsh” sanctions adopted by ECOWAS
No one is fooled. The sanctions taken by ECOWAS were ordered by the former colonial power FranceEric Ismael Kinda, spokesperson for Balai Citoyen
From Senegal to Madagascar via Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo and many others, this network of activists from Africa and its diasporas as it is defined, has a strong French-speaking identity. Afrikki has been working for several years to strengthen social and citizen movements in Africa through solidarity, exchange and consultation. ” Today, it is the best-known African civil society organizations that animate it”, says Eric Ismael Kinda. His organization in Burkina Faso, the Citizen Balai, of which he is one of the spokespersons, played an important role in the fall of Blaise Compaoré. Other citizen movements enjoy similar notoriety in their country. “There is a historical capital of mobilizations and connections. Since 2012 with Y en a marre in Senegal, then Burkina Faso and the DR Congo with Filimbi, an African civil society has formalized itself and constituted a credible opinion”. All are signatories to the appeal, alongside political parties and public figures. “It is a varied collective for a representativeness of an African public opinion, but also extra-African. This is why there are collectives from France who are also signatories”, emphasizes Serge Lianhoué Bayala.
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Sanctions to “push Mali”
We “condemn the iniquitous, shameful and wicked decisions of the Heads of State of ECOWAS”, states the appeal. First objective: the lifting of sanctions, in particular such as the freezing of assets or the closing of borders which “will sink Mali” selon Eric Ismael Kinda. “There is talk of an ECOWAS standby force that will probably be deployed in Mali to force the junta to give up power very early and consider democratic elections. It’s totally ridiculous”, is indignant the Burkinabé activist who judges that such forces should rather join the fight against terrorism, raised to the rank of “priority”.
There is no hierarchy to be made between rampant corruption in facade democracies and military coups, both are reprehensibleSerge Lianhoué Bayala, general secretary of 2H for Kamita
But the collective gathered behind this call sees further. Other actions are to come. In particular, defying the embargo to join Mali and participate in the protest movements in Bamako. Behind the current West African leaders, it is the hand of Paris that he denounces.“No one is fooled. The sanctions taken by ECOWAS were ordered by the former colonial power, France”, says Eric Ismaël Kinda loud and clear, even if it does not appear in the final version of the text.
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Military coup and constitutional coup
Another target: the Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara or the deposed Guinea Alpha Condé, who were both elected for a third term after modifying the Constitution. “What Alassane Ouattara in Côte d’Ivoire did was a coup, what Alpha Condé did in Guinea was a coup. This resulted in deaths”, emphasizes Eric Ismaël Kinda. A practice that ended in Guinea with the overthrow of President Condé, in early September 2021, by Colonel Doumbouya and his special forces now in power in Conakry. A coup condemned by ECOWAS, like those in Bamako by the Malian junta. “For us there is no hierarchy to be made between constitutional coups and military coups, no hierarchy to be made between the rampant corruption in facade democracies and military coups, both are condemnable.”, says Serge Lianhoué Bayala.
(Re)read: Who are the supporters of the military junta in Mali?
In fact, the two Burkinabé activists denounce the policy of two weights, two measures, of ECOWAS. More broadly, they deplore insufficient or distorted democratic standards. For Serge Lianhoué Bayala, African Heads of State “abuse electoral democracy, they think that the other aspects linked to good governance, to transparency in the virtuous management of things, in particular in connection with justice, are derisory elements in terms of importance in the whole spectrum of the democracy “. The text of the appeal does not mention coups d’etat of any kind, on the other hand it expresses “its interest and its admiration” for “the Malian people in struggle” and its “legitimate aspiration for freedom and dignity “.
(Re)read: Sanctions against Mali: is ECOWAS betting on a “social explosion”?
Is Burkina Faso on the right track?
This disavowal of democratic practices in West Africa also affects countries that are more like good students of democracy. This is particularly the case of Burkina Faso, which saw the re-election of Roch Marc Christian Kaboré for a second term in 2020. The analysis of its governance by the two Burkinabe activists is all the more scathing, as an attempt to coup d’etat has just been made public. “In 6 years and although the result of elections, it has not been capable of any structuring reform that allows it to escape the threat of a coup d’etat”, loose Serge Lianhoué Bayala. For Eric Ismaël Kinda, “It is not possible that this democracy can stop the attacks of the jihadists. Because it has set up a system of predation and prebends, a totally corrupt system that does not want to defeat terrorism”.
(Re)read: Burkina Faso: the new Prime Minister Lassina Zerbo has no right to failure
The rejection of sanctions against Mali by citizen movements and African civil society organizations has repercussions that go beyond the Malian case. These ECOWAS sanctions exacerbate the feeling of injustice and increase the gap that separates West African leaders from the people. So much so that the use of military force appears to be a legitimate option, insofar as the new power has proven itself. This is not the case with the junta in Guinea, in the opinion of our two Burkinabé activists who remain cautious on this subject. What is certain is that the struggle for true democracy has no limits.