Thousands of people demonstrated in the Malian capital Bamako on January 14 against sanctions imposed by neighboring countries on the transitional military government for trying to extend its hold on power.
People poured into Independence Square holding up signs saying “Down with ECOWAS” and “Down with France,” to protest restrictions imposed by the Economic Community of West African States and backed by former colonial master France.
The military junta that seized power in a 2020 coup initially agreed to hold elections this February. It has since backtracked, and recently proposed a new date of December 2025.
The move has drawn international condemnation, but many Malians continue to support interim President Assimi Goita, an army colonel whose overthrow of the late Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was widely popular.
“I am here to say that Mali is first for Malians, it’s not ECOWAS or France who are going to make decisions in our place,” said Adama Cisse, a 40-year-old teacher in the crowd.
The sanctions have left the landlocked West African country isolated, as neighbors have cancelled flights, closed borders, and cut off its access to regional financial markets.
Western powers have voiced support for ECOWAS’s actions.
Mali was already in a spat with Western allies, who accuse it of hiring Russian private military contractors to provide security services. The Malian government has said the Russians are instructors who came with equipment bought from Russia.
Speaking at the rally, Prime Minister Choguel Maiga praised Russia and China for blocking a proposed statement at the UN Security Council, backed by Western and African countries, that endorsed the ECOWAS sanctions.
“Today Russia and China are opposed to the illegal and illegitimate embargo against our country and our people,” Maiga, dressed in military fatigues despite never having served in the armed forces, told the crowd.
French troops have been deployed to Mali since 2013 to help fight Islamist militant groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. The UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA also has about 12,000 troops in Mali to try to contain the violence.