Union calls strike in Mali over bank leader's detention

People stand in line outside a bank in Bamako, Mali Friday, March 30, 2012. Capt. Amadou Haya Sanogo, the junior officer who grabbed power in a coup, says he plans to hold free elections and to rapidly return Mali to its established order, but refused to give a timetable even as neighboring countries prepare to enact severe financial sanctions.(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

A worker’s union in Mali has called on employees of banks, insurance companies, micro-finance institutions and petrol stations to stop work from Thursday after the arrest of its secretary-general.

The National Union of Banks, Insurance Companies, Financial Institutions and Businesses of Mali said its secretary-general, Hamadoun Bah, was arrested on Wednesday.

Malian authorities have not confirmed Bah’s arrest and the union did not provide further details.

The union took the decision following an emergency meeting of its executive bureau on Wednesday, it said in a statement.

Separately, a coalition of political parties and associations known as the Synergy of Action for Mali has called for a protest on Friday against the high cost of living and ongoing electricity cuts in the West African Sahel country, which has been ruled by a junta since 2020.