By Hugo Odiogor, Foreign Affairs Editor
Democratisation in Mali
THE third phase of the battle in Mali is the democratisation process. The country’s electoral commission has announced July as the new month as opposed to April as initially agreed. This will present the challenge of healthy political process in the country when there are still conflicts in some parts of the country.

The logistics and funds required for such exercise cannot come from the cash strapped government in Bamako. The UN is still battling to find.

There is the question of whether ECOWAS has lived up to the vision of its founding fathers? Prof. Fred Aja Agwu is of the view that African leaders are not serious in their pursuit of the affairs of African people. What they are interested in doing is to promote their personal agenda and ego. They are n ot methodical and painstaking in handling issues concerning the continent and that is what is playing out at the ECOWAS sub-region”.

Funding and Control
Funding the military operations in Mali is set to become a doggy affair as France plans to hand-over the command and control of the war in the Sahel to the African military contingent.

Although the United Nations endorsed the use of military action to dismantle the Islamist groups in northern the world body is yet to make any financial commitment to funding AFISMA in Mali.

The same goes for the US where the policy prohibits White House from giving a direct military aid to Mali “because the fledghing government is the result of a military coup”. A U.S. State department statement said no support can go to the Malian military directly until leaders are chosen through an election.

As part of their contributions to the Mali war, Canada and Britain are deploying
military transport air crafts while the European Union approved a training mission for the troops. The training for African troops took place in Nigeria, Niger Togo, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Senegal.

The Director General of Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos. Prof. Bola A. Akinterinwa is worried that even when the big nations are not sending troops to fight in Mali, the issue of contributing money for African soldier remains problematic. He said the Tuaregs who have mastered the terrain for centuries, have adapted to the harsh climatic conditions in the desert. According to Akinterinwa
“While the Tuaregs can stay for four days without drinking water, the African troops in the desert, would find that to get water for drinking and take care of themselves would be a major challenge.Prof Akinterinwa said “there should be no negotiations with terrorists who are not trust worthy, Religious terrorists do not negotiate because their ultimate goal is to achieve their goal; to Islamise the the territory that they occupy”

Nigeria, which is the richest country in the region, is expected to play a leading role both in funding and directing the operations in Mali, but the country lacks the financial resources to commit into the Sahel war.. Former Senator and External Affairs Minister, General Ike Nwachukwu, said “Nigeria should not take the lead in funding the Mali operation just like it did in Liberia”. He said, “I will support a collective approach to funding the military operations in Mali”.

Nigeria is sending 1,200 troops to Mali where the entire sub-region is billed to send 3,300 troops to support their French and Mali counterparts in their fight against Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb .

Senegal is facing internal unrest in the Casamence region where there is agitation for autonomy. It is a country that is prone to Al-Qaeda infiltration and President Macky Sall has been rallying his country men who are mainly Muslims, to reject Islamic fundamentalism.

Mauritania which is Mali’s neighbour is known also as a safe haven for islamic militants. Mauritania has insisted that it will not get involved in Mali because of its own domestic experience with the Islamist militants. Both Nigeria, Niger and Burkina Faso also have their domestic concerns with the militants.

For Burkina Faso, getting involved in Mali is dicey as both countries had fought each other before.

Majority of the African military contingent lack experience in desert warfare and the Tuaregs which have pledged to support the Malians forces, are still viewed with suspicion.

The Tuaregs have been seen as the cause of present crisis in Mali and there are fears of a possible military backlash against them.