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Mali fingers West as Goita thwarts countercoup attempt

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The military junta of Colonel Assimi Goita in Mali has hit the West once again. This time, Bamako claimed that security forces thwarted a countercoup attempt that it said was supported by an unnamed Western government.

Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, the junta’s spokesperson made the disclosure on state television on Monday evening.

“These soldiers were supported by a Western state,” Maiga said.

The West African country has been at loggerheads with many allies and just yesterday news broke that it was breaking defence alliance with neighbours by opting out of the G-5 Sahel.

The attempt was meant “to hinder – or even annihilate – the substantial efforts to secure our country and return to a constitutional order that guarantees peace and stability,”  Maiga continued.

The Mali War started in January 2012 between the northern and southern parts of Mali in Africa with several insurgent groups, Jihadist and separatist fighters with  affiliations with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group  began fighting a campaign against the Malian government for independence or greater autonomy for northern Mali, which they called Azawad. The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), an organization fighting to make this area of Mali an independent homeland for the Tuareg people, had taken control of the region by April 2012.

Until recently, the relationship between Mali and France seems smooth with French-led military intervention ousting jihadists who were taking control of northern Mali but the relations have deteriorated with Mali’s new military leaders, who seized power in a 2020 coup.

The breakdown in relations prompted the French military to begin a withdrawal of its forces that had spent nine years fighting Islamic extremists.

Beyond France, Mali has also had issues with other Western countries. In March The UK Ministry of Defence claimed a Malian military helicopter fired several rockets close to the location of British members of a UN peacekeeping force in the country.

Just as the European Nations (E.U) and the United States also do not seem to be on the same page. The EU and the US both condemned Mali’s alleged use of Russian based mercenaries the (Wagner Group) to fight terrorist and the position do not with down well with Bamako.

It is therefore not surprising that Bamako pointed fingers at a Western country supporting the aborted coup.

Politics

Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

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A day after dismissing Choguel Maiga for criticising the government, Mali’s governing junta named its spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, as Prime Minister on Thursday, according to state broadcaster, ORTM.

A source close to Choguel Maiga told Reuters that the ruling generals were incensed by Maiga’s remarks over the weekend denouncing the junta’s inability to hold elections within the 24-month timeframe given for the return to democracy.

After promising to hold elections in February, the military authorities, who took control in two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, have put off the poll indefinitely, citing technological difficulties.

Choguel Maiga’s firing coincides with indications of growing discontent and disarray among Mali politicians, even those who first supported the coup and collaborated with the junta.

As the wait for elections continues, Choguel Maiga, a civilian prime minister who was installed by the military junta in 2021, is the most recent to lose support.

He was cited on Saturday as claiming he learnt of the junta’s decision via the media and that there had been no discussion regarding the delay of the elections inside the cabinet.

“It’s all happening in total secrecy, without the prime minister’s knowledge,” Choguel Maiga told reporters.

Before then, he had frequently stood up for Mali’s junta against criticism from foreign friends and neighbours in West Africa who denounced its repeated election delays and military collaboration with Russian mercenaries.

As government spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, the new prime minister, has also made strong public remarks against France, the previous colonial master. One such speech was demanding French President Emmanuel Macron to stop his “neocolonial” and “condescending” behaviour.

Abdoulaye Maiga and Assimi Goita, the leaders of the junta, announced they had kept all of the important cabinet ministers in their portfolios in the new administration in a statement that was broadcast on state television ORTM.

The announcement said that Abdoulaye Maiga will remain minister of territory administration.

 

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Congo opposition mobilizes protests against constitution review

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In response to President Felix Tshisekedi’s intentions to amend the constitution, opposition lawmakers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have called for national protests on Wednesday.

Tshisekedi, who was sworn in for his second and last term in January, said that a panel would be formed in October to recommend possible constitutional amendments.

According to critics, it may be a ploy to lift term restrictions and give him another chance to run.

Tshisekedi said the current constitution, ratified by a referendum in 2005, needed to change because it did not align with the country’s current realities.

Opposition politicians, including former president Joseph Kabila and past presidential candidates Martin Fayulu and Moise Katumbi, issued a unified statement on Wednesday urging rallies to “block” Tshisekedi.

A request for a response from the Congo’s presidency was not answered.

Patrick Muyaya, the minister of communications, stated on Monday that discussions surrounding the constitutional revision should be de-politicized and that no one should doubt the president’s intentions.

“We’re at the beginning of our mandate… The President of the Republic still has four years to go, and we must avoid attributing intentions to him,” Muyaya told reporters.

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