By John Ikani
A top court has ordered the suspension of sanctions imposed on Mali in January after the junta delayed elections.
The court of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) on Thursday gave the order against the eight-nation body’s sanctions against Mali.
“The decision was rendered this morning. It is a suspension measure pending a detailed ruling of the court,” spokesperson Aminata Mbodj said. It was not immediately clear whether UEMOA would follow the court decision.
The court’s ruling comes ahead of the ECOWAS Extraordinary summit scheduled to hold on Friday in Ghana.
UEOMA members, comprising mainly former French colonies in West Africa, also belong to the 15-nation regional ECOWAS bloc.
The group uses the common currency, CFA franc, which is tied to the French Treasury.
The group met on January 9 in Accra before an ECOWAS summit to suspend Mali and impose sweeping financial sanctions on the country.
ECOWAS subsequently imposed its own sanctions.
While ECOWAS sanctions might be different, Thursday’s court ruling could impact decision/s of Friday’s ECOWAS summit, which is expected to review the regional sanctions against Mali and also consider possible compromise on the country’s transition timetable.
