EDITORIAL: The coup in Mali: Matters arising

Just when the world was beginning to hope that the days of military coups and countercoups were over in Africa, on August 18, 2020 soldiers in the West African State of Mali put all issues in reverse.

The latest is the second in eight years after the 2012 putsch. Preceding the coup was a popular uprising that started early June, with protesters calling for the resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.

The protesters considered Keita a failure, because in their view, he had failed to manage the crisis in education, confront corruption, tackle the ongoing insurgency. Above all they opined that he had failed to improve the face of general governance in the country.

In the course of the protests, the vicious reaction by state agents led to 11 deaths and 124 injuries.

The mutinous soldiers began a military action in Kati and later moved to the capital, Bamako, to arrest prominent government officials, including Minister of Finance Abdoulaye Daffe, the Chief of Staff of the National Guard Mahamane Touré and Moussa Timbiné, Speaker of the National Assembly.

Apparently aware of the dimension of the military action, the Prime Minister, Boubou Cissé, appealed for dialogue with the mutineers, acknowledging that they held “legitimate frustrations”.

Five colonels led by Colonel Assimi Goita appeared in a national TV broadcast calling themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People.

The arrested government officials were taken to the military camp in Kati where the uprising began.

As news of the mutiny spread, hundreds of protesters gathered at Bamako’s Independence Monument to celebrate the coup and demand President Keïta’s resignation.

A spokesman for the M5-RFP opposition coalition welcomed the development and described it as a “popular insurrection”.

Opposition member Mahmoud Dicko announced that he was leaving politics after meeting with some of the soldiers that took part in the mutiny.

President Keïta resigned around midnight and dissolved the government and parliament. Coup leaders first promised new elections within a “reasonable timeline”.

Later, they issued a statement that the transition would last three years. As expected, international reactions have condemned the Malian imbroglio ever since.

African Union Commission chairman Moussa Faki called for the release of the affected politicians.

Many international organizations such as the African Union, the European Union, and the United Nations condemned the coup.

President Emmanuel Macron of France, a country which has been involved in fighting an Islamist insurgency in its former colony since 2013, called for power to be returned to civilians and for arrested leaders to be freed.

Former Nigerian President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan led an ECOWAS delegation to Mali.

The United States cut off military aid to Mali on 21 August. Amnesty International also called for the release of the detainees.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has imposed sanctions on Mali and called on neighboring states to close their land and air borders against her.

Daily Times joins the international community in condemning the forceful takeover of political power in Mali and anywhere in the world.

Military coups run against civility and humanity.

The Mali coup, if allowed to succeed completely – irrespective of the intention behind it – will be a serious setback for the political development of Africa.

It has the tendency to re-kindle a new phase of military intervention in African politics just as the Togolese coup of 1963 which turned out to be contagious did.

The 2008 Mauritania coup the one in Guinea (same year), Niger (2010) and Mali (2012) have been red stains on the white canvas of governance in Africa in recent times.

Daily Times therefore hails the international community for their promptness in condemning the Mali coup, and for applying sanctions to frustrate it.

We also call for stiffer sanctions from all stakeholders if the military junta in Mali refuses to hand over power.

We appeal to the military in Mali to, if they are sincere, commence and complete political engineering in a period not later than six months as was done in Nigeria following the death of General Sanni Abacha.

In doing so, the interim government must be based on wide consultations and with respect for the constitution of the country.

The foregoing being stated, Africa and its leaders must see the Mali scenario as a period of self-assessment.

Bad governance and insensitive governments have the tendency to provoke such popular uprising capable of creating and repeating the Malian scenario.

The saying that “those who make peaceful change impossible make forceful intervention inevitable”, is apt here.

Indeed, the recent coup in Mali should be understood within the context of a conflict between the supranational sovereignty of international organizations and the popular sovereignty of the people.

By virtue of the long popular uprising that preceded it, the coup, if must be so called, is no conventional one.

There seems to have been loss of legitimacy by the Malian government. Education, security, and governance had been comatose.

There was a high level of corruption. The coup thus appears people-provoked, as evident in the acceptance and jubilation that greeted it.

We acknowledge the fact, as has been said all over the world, that the worst civilian government is better than the best military regime.

However, Mali’s current situation provides the opportunity to impress on ECOWAS, AU, and other international organizations that there is need for them to be proactive towards the socio-political affairs of their member states.

A government which poses a threat to the survival of the people is dangerous to humanity.

READ ALSO: Mali colonel, Assimi Goita, declares himself Junta Leader

International organizations should not wait till there is a coup and other disasters before urging governments to respect the sovereignty of the people by good governance.

We reiterate our call for the soldiers in Mali to return to the barracks as soon as practicable and allow the rule of law to govern the affairs of the country.

The era of coups is over.