Mali’s former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has died almost 18 months after he was ousted in a army coup
BAMAKO, Mali — Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the previous president of Mali who took workplace in a landmark election held after a destabilizing coup solely to be ousted in one other army takeover almost seven years later, has died. He was 76.
Keita, identified to Malians by his initials IBK, had been in declining well being since his pressured resignation in August 2020, and had sought medical therapy in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, shortly after his launch from junta custody.
His demise early Sunday — introduced in an alert by the state broadcaster ORTM — comes because the sprawling African nation faces a deepening political disaster. The coup chief who ousted Keita has no rapid plans for a return to democracy as initially promised.
Keita gained the historic 2013 presidential election held to revive democracy after a 2012 coup. However solely seven years later he himself was ousted by one other army takeover following months of public demonstrations in opposition to his presidency. Keita had three years left in his ultimate time period when mutinous troopers detained him at his residence in August 2020 after firing pictures outdoors the home. Hours later, he appeared in a midnight broadcast on state tv, telling Malians he would resign instantly.
“I want no blood to be shed to maintain me in energy,” Keita stated on the time. “I’ve determined to step down from workplace.”
West African regional leaders imposed powerful financial sanctions earlier this month after Col. Assimi Goita, who heads the transitional authorities, indicated that the subsequent presidential election will not be held till 2026, after initially agreeing to an election by the tip of subsequent month.
A protest motion in opposition to Keita’s presidency noticed tens of 1000’s display within the streets within the months main as much as his overthrow. As discontent together with his management mounted, Keita had tried to make concessions to his critics, saying he was even open to redoing the vote. However these overtures had been swiftly rejected by opposition leaders, who stated they would not cease in need of Keita’s departure.
Help for Keita additionally tumbled amid criticism of his authorities’s dealing with of the Islamic insurgency, which considerably expanded into central Mali throughout his tenure. A wave of notably lethal assaults within the north in 2019 prompted the federal government to shut its most weak outposts as a part of a reorganization aimed toward stemming the losses.
Keita additionally confronted criticism for his dealing with of the political disaster within the north. He signed a peace settlement with former rebels, but it surely was by no means absolutely carried out, prolonging the instability.
Again in 2013, Keita had emerged from a discipline of greater than two dozen candidates to win Mali’s first democratic election after a 2012 coup — a landslide victory with greater than 77% of the vote. He additionally loved broad assist from former colonizer France and different Western allies. In 2018, Keita was reelected to a second time period after receiving 67% of the vote.
Born in 1945, Keita hailed from the city of Koutiala in what’s now southern Mali. He studied in Bamako, Dakar, Senegal, and Paris, incomes a grasp’s diploma in historical past with postgraduate research in politics and worldwide relations earlier than getting into politics.
His early posts included ambassador to neighboring Ivory Coast and diplomatic adviser to President Alpha Oumar Konare, who took workplace in 1992. Keita then served as prime minister from 1994 to 2000, and later as president of the Nationwide Meeting from 2002 to 2007.
He’s survived by his spouse, Aminata Maiga Keita, and their 4 youngsters.
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Related Press author Krista Larson contributed to this report from Dakar, Senegal.
