The chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, is in West Africa as part of efforts to seek peaceful resolution of the crisis in Mail.
Mr Mahamat, according to a statement by the AU Commission, departed Addis Ababa on Sunday and headed straight for the Ghanaian capital Accra as his first port of call for consultations with the chairperson of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Mr Mahamat, according to the statement, was scheduled to continue to the Malian capital, Bamako to meet leaders of the transition government and other political stakeholders there.
It could be recalled that ECOWAS imposed heavy sanctions on Mali after it failed to meet its deadline to conduct elections and hand over power to a civilian administration by February 27.
Mali has described the ECOWAS sanctions as illegal and vowed to challenge them at relevant regional and international legal institutions.
Mr Mahamat’s visit to West Africa is part of efforts to result the crisis by brokering a new deal with the junta.
Reports indicate that the AU favours a proposal by Algeria, which is seeking to have the Malian junta reduced the period of five years it has proposed, in turn to the lifting of sanctions on the landlocked Sahel nation.
