Mali: Former President Keita Passes Away

The ex-president of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, has died at 76.

Keita’s family say that he died at his home in the city of Bamako on Sunday morning, 16 January. He had endured a stroke two years ago, but that has not been put down as the cause of death.

He was politically active since 1994, before ascending to the highest office of the west African nation in 2013, and governed until he was ousted by military heads in August 2020 as part of an anti-government coup. The country underwent an 18-month interim transition period before the commander of the special forces, Assimi Goita, staged another coup in May 2021 to claim power for himself.

Despite landlocked Mali already being a poor nation, Keita’s rule had been characterised by sluggish reforms, deteriorating basic infrastructure and services, with the general view that his government was inept and corrupt.

The European Union has sanctioned Mali and its neighbours in the region as a result of the second coup.

Prime minister, Colonel Abdoulaye Idrissa Maiga, announced on the same day that funeral plans would be made public at a later date.

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