Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger to Launch Passports Under New Alliance
Mali says the Alliance of Sahel States comprising itself, Burkina Faso, and Niger, will introduce new biometric passports to reflect the new union as part of their withdrawal from a West African bloc in favor of a new Sahel alliance after military leaders seized power in all three countries.
ReutersMali says the Alliance of Sahel States comprising itself, Burkina Faso, and Niger, will introduce new biometric passports to reflect the new union as part of their withdrawal from a West African bloc in favor of a new Sahel alliance after military leaders seized power in all three countries.
TRT AFRIKA
15 Sep 2024
UPDATE: Three countries cut ties with ECOWAS
“PRESS RELEASE: Withdrawal of Burkina Faso-Mali-Niger from ECOWAS.”
In early 2024, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso formally applied to withdraw from the West African regional bloc ECOWAS. / Photo: Reuters
Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger will introduce new biometric passports as part of their withdrawal from a West African bloc in favor of a new Sahel alliance after military leaders seized power in all three countries, Mali's leader said on Sunday.
The three junta-led Sahel neighbors jointly announced in January they would leave the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has sought to persuade them to reconsider their decision.
Burkina Faso announced earlier this month that it was rolling out new passports without the ECOWAS logo.
"In the coming days, a new biometric passport of the AES (Alliance of Sahel States) will be put into circulation with the aim of harmonizing travel documents in our common area and facilitating the mobility of our citizens throughout the world", Malian junta leader Assimi Goita announced on Sunday evening.
Shared information channel
He spoke ahead of a meeting on Monday between the three countries' foreign ministers on the anniversary of the decision to form their own alliance.
Goita also said they were planning to launch a shared information channel "in order to promote a harmonious dissemination of information in our three states."
ECOWAS has warned that the three countries' withdrawal would undermine the freedom of movement and common market of the 400 million people living in the 49-year-old bloc.
Their departure comes as their armies battle armed groups, whose insurgencies have destabilized the region over the past decade and threatened to spill over into coastal West African states.
ReutersThree Sahel nations, including Burkina Faso, to launch a common passport to facilitate the movement of people within their new confederation.
Defendant Vincent Dabilgou, Party Leader and Former Minister of Transport
Misappropriation of public funds in Burkina Faso. The defendant Vincent Dabilgou, it should be remembered, was being prosecuted by the courts in Burkina Faso for embezzlement of public funds, money laundering, and the hidden financing of political parties, including the party of which he is the president, the NTD.
By Theo Edwards
Misappropriation of public funds in Burkina Faso
August 2023 File Photo
The defendant Vincent Dabilgou, it should be remembered, was being prosecuted by the courts in Burkina Faso for embezzlement of public funds, money laundering, and the hidden financing of political parties, including the party of which he is the president, the NTD. He was sentenced in August of 2023 by the court in Burkina Faso.
The court in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou sentenced Vincent Dabilgou, former transport minister, to eleven years in prison for embezzlement of public funds and money laundering, the local media said, citing judicial sources.
The court reportedly charged the former minister with ‘misappropriation of public funds’ to the tune of 1.12 billion CFA francs (about $1.9 million), and ‘hidden financing of a political party.’
Dabilgou is the founder and chairman of the New Era for Democracy (NTD) party, whose activities the court also ordered suspended.
The ex-minister must also pay a fine of 3.3 billion CFA francs ($5.5 million) following the order and is banned from all political activities for five years.
READ: Politicians don't give a dam!
In addition, the tribunal directed that the former minister's assets be forfeited to the extent of the amounts embezzled to the treasury.
The court verdict also affected two of Dabilgou's former colleagues in the ministry, Sere Jean-Gabriel and Kouanda Malick, who received prison sentences ranging from six to eleven years, along with hefty fines for ‘abuse of power.’
Burkina Faso has been ruled since September 2022 by an interim government led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, who took power from the previous coup leader Paul-Henri Damiba, who overthrew Kabore.
Vincent Dabilgou headed Burkina Faso's Transport Ministry under President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, who was overthrown in a coup in January 2022. Before the Transport Ministry, he served as Minister of Urban Development.
However, a video of Vincent Dabilgou surfaced on social media, which has since gone viral with the caption ‘From Grace to Grass,’ showing him being subjected to public beatings after being found guilty of embezzlement.
Vincent Dabilgou, Party Leader and Former Minister of Transport. Revealing the locations of embezzled funds.
The passport to achieving wealth in Africa is by entering into politics.
The question we ask is:
As a powerful deterrent, sending a clear message to future public servants about the consequences of engaging in corruption and state capture when found guilty, should we consider introducing public flogging as part of sentencing our corrupt African leaders and their accomplices?
By Theo Edwards for YAMEFeel free to join the conversation by posting your comment! We encourage readers across the political spectrum to participate. We hold Space for everyone on YAME. yame [dot] space.
