News
Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita Resigns after Military Mutiny
PARIS, FRANCE – OCTOBER 21: Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita delivers a speech during a press conference with French President Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace Palace on October 21, 2015 in Paris, France. Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is on a three-day official visit in France. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)
Malian President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has announced his resignation hours after he and the Prime Minister, Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga, were arrested by mutinous soldiers in a suspected coup.
Back in July, President Muhammadu Buhari, together with other ECOWAS leaders, visited Mali.
We shared then that the leaders visited Mali because of the spate of protests rocking the country, hoping to put an end to it.
Before his resignation, there was widespread anger over corruption, mismanagement of the economy, and the worsening security situation.
On Tuesday night, Keita announced his immediate resignation and dissolved the country’s national assembly and government. Speaking on national broadcaster ORTM, he explained that he had little choice but to stand down to avoid bloodshed
For seven years I have with great joy and happiness tried to put this country back on its feet… If today some people from the armed forces have decided to end it by their intervention, do I have a choice? I should submit to it because I don’t want any blood to be shed.
#BREAKING Mali president announces dissolution of parliament and govt pic.twitter.com/bWHAqf0rAW
— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 19, 2020
VIDEO: Malian anti-government protesters cheer on the military at Independence Square.
Malians line the streets around Bamako's Independence Square to cheer on the military, as unrest sweeps through the capital pic.twitter.com/j4tQFVFCyq
— AFP news agency (@AFP) August 19, 2020
