Insecurity in Africa: Malian coup leader fires the transitional President and Prime for allegedly violating transitional charter
2 min read
President Bah Ndaw (centre) is reportedly being held by Malian soldiers near the capital Bamako REUTERS
The Malian Military again on Monday 24 May 2021 arrested and detained the interim President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane of the transitional government. They were elected in 2020 after the coup which saw the then President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta removed from power. The recent incident happened shortly after a government reshuffle in which two army officers who took part in the coup (August 2020) were replaced (Source BBC)
The act was masterminded by Malian interim Vice President Assimi Goita, the leader of the August 2020 coup on the basis that the President and the Prime Minister acted without consulting him following the removal of two of his fellow coup leaders from the government.
According to Deutsche Welle (DW), “Goita said he ousted the interim president and prime minister because they failed to consult him about the nomination of the new government….This, he said, violated the transitional charter — a document largely drawn up by the military which set down the principles for Mali’s return to civilian rule”
As gotten from DW, Goita said the pair’s decisions had shown “demonstrable intent to sabotage the transition…..This kind of step testifies to the clear desire of the transitional president and prime minister to seek to breach the transitional charter,” he said. Defence Minister Souleymane Doucouré has also reportedly been detained.
The act has been widely condemned by the international community including the African Union, the United Nations, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), the EU, the United States, France etc.
The United Nations Secretary-General has condemned the arrest and detention of these two and demanded their immediate release while France has distance itself.
The former “We are demanding the release of the authorities, whose security must be guaranteed, and the immediate resumption of the normal process of transition (towards democracy),” Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (Source Reuters). “If there is no return to a transition, we will take immediate measures to target those in the military who are hindering the transition,” He reiterated
Despite this, the Removal, Goita reiterated that the transition would “proceed as normally,” with scheduled elections to be held in 2022. (DW)
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Berinyuy Cajetan is the founder and publisher of Human Rights and Legal Research Centre (HRLRC) since 2017. He has intensive experience in strategic communications for Civil Society Organizations, campaign and advocacy, and social issues. He has an intensive experiencing in human rights monitoring, documentation and reporting.
