Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the Minister of Foreign Affairs says Guinea and Mali will not be participating in Thursday’s Extraordinary ECOWAS summit in Accra.
The two West African countries have been suspended from the 15-member body following recent coups.
Addressing the media ahead of the ECOWAS summit, Ayorko Botchwey said, “Guinea will not be at the table tomorrow (Thursday). 13 countries have been invited; Guinea and Mali are on suspension and therefore, they will not be part of the meeting. Guinea especially because we are going to be discussing them so they cannot be there.
“In any case, they are not part of ECOWAS at the moment and therefore cannot be there.”
West African leaders will meet on Thursday to decide how to respond to the coup in Guinea and how to pressure the junta leaders to return the country to constitutional rule, the foreign minister said.
The 15-member ECOWAS has condemned the putsch that overthrew President Alpha Condé on 5 September. It was the third coup in West and Central Africa since April.
The bloc suspended Guinea from the decision-making bodies of the organisation last week and sent a mission to meet the coup leaders.
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