Mali Coup Plotters Consolidate Power, Shun ECOWAS, US |The Source

By Fola James

Amidst Global condemnation, soldiers behind the coup detat that ousted Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita from power said their intervention was necessary to stop the country from further plunging into chaos.

President Keita and his Prime Minster were arrested on Tuesday by the mutineers who later forced them to resign their positions.

The soldiers who took control of the capital and other major cities had accused the former leader of failure to rein in violence and stop attacks from terror groups such as Alqaeda and ISIL who now controls parts of the country.

“If today, certain elements of our armed forces want this to end through their intervention, do I really have a choice?” former President Kaita said on his resignation late on Tuesday.

He later dissolved the country’s parliament, paving the way for the coup plotters who have set up government in Bamako, the capital and have now promised to organize election within “a reasonable time”.

Colonel Ismael Wague, a spokesman for the mutineers, calling themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People, said the soldiers acted in the interest of the country, despite condemnation by ECOWAS, EU, US and other global partners.

The Mutineers’ spokesman called on Mali’s civil society and political movements to support them to bring peace to the restive nation.

Wague who was flanked by other soldiers said “Our country is sinking into chaos, anarchy and insecurity mostly due to the fault of the people who are in charge of its destiny.

“We are not keen on power, but we are keen on the stability of the country, which will allow us to organise general elections to allow Mali to equip itself with strong institutions within the reasonable time limit.”

Meanwhile ECOWAS has called on Nigeria and other countries bordering Mali to shut their borders in protest of the forced change of power.

The chair of African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat had earlier said the continental body will not recognize the coup plotters.