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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Chair of the Authority of Heads of State and Government, will on Sunday, May 30, in Accra, hold an extraordinary meeting of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government on Mali's political upheaval.

The meeting is intended to take a consequential decision on the recent happenings in Mali to bring normalcy and stability to the West African nation.

It is also in line with the ECOWAS protocol on democracy and good governance, to restore normalcy following the arrest and detention of Transitional President Bah NDaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane on Monday night, May 24, 2021.

Colonel Assimi Goita, the Vice-President of the Transitional Administration, led a coup and detained the Transitional President and Prime Minister to the Kati Military Base, outside of the national capital, Bamako.

Col. Goita, last year, also led a military coup on August 18, to oust the then President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, which led ECOWAS to set up a transitional administration to return the country to civilian rule within 18 months.

Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration briefing the media in Accra, on Saturday, on the Extraordinary ECOWAS Summit, said President Akufo-Addo took the decision to convene the meeting after consultation with his peers.

"The purpose of the Summit is to enable the Authority to deliberate and take consequential decisions on the evolving political and security situation in the Republic of Mali.

"As you are all aware, the past few days have witnessed some worrying developments in Mali,” she said.

"The arrest and detention of the President and Prime Minister of the Transition Government by the military has necessitated a re-evaluation of the strategies adopted by ECOWAS to bring normalcy to the country."

The Minister announced that 10 Heads of State and Government had confirmed their participation, including Senegal and Benin.

The meeting will also be attended by a special ECOWAS Mediator to Mali and former President of Nigeria, Mr Goodluck Jonathan, as well as the President and Vice President of the ECOWAS Commission.

She said a communiqué would be issued at the end of the Summit.

Meanwhile, Ms Botchwey said at the behest of the President of Ghana, an ECOWAS Mediation team, led by Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, who is ECOWAS’ Special Envoy and Mediator for Mali, embarked on a fact-finding mission to Mali from 25th to 26th May, 2021.

The visit was to assess the situation and explore opportunities for the resolution of the crisis.

Mr Jonathan will, therefore, report to the Summit on the outcome of the mission.