Akufo-Addo fly to Guinea to talk to coup leaders

President Nana Akufo-Addo, ECOWAS Chair, Friday left Accra for Guinea to meet her military leaders a day after the regional bloc imposed travel and financial sanctions on the junta and their families.

The development is a follow up on the recommendations West African leaders made at the regional body's Accra Extraordinary meeting to firm up a decision on the political situation in Guinea.

The ECOWAS leaders in a post-summit communique, ordered a swift return to constitutional order, asking the military rulers of that country to fix presidential and legislative election within six months.

They also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of President Alpha Conde who has been detained since his ouster on September 5, 2021 by an elite army unit led by a former French legionnaire, Lt. Col Mamady Doumbouya.

The regional body said the military rulers would be “individually and collectively responsible for the physical safety of President Conde” who is being held in detention at a military facility.

The bloc froze the financial assets and imposed travel bans on Guinea's military leaders and their relatives.

It called on the African Union, the European Union, the United Nations, and other multilateral and bilateral partners to support the implementation of the sanctions against the Junta, and to endorse the decisions taken by the Authority, for the restoration of constitutional rule in Guinea.

The Accra meeting, which also discussed the situation in Mali, demanded that that country;s transitional authorities adhere strictly to the transition timetable for the effective conduct of elections within the non-negotiable deadline of February 2022.

Anyone stalling the transitional process, the body warned, would face the same sanctions taken against Guinea's military government.

The Authority requested President Akufo-Addo to visit Guinea and Mali as soon as possible to convey in person the decision of the Authority.

GNA