– Hello Abidjan, Conakry, Dakar… ECOWAS? Hello Africa? Bamako here!
– But who’s calling?
– Mali at the end of the line!
The land of Diatiguiya speaks to us. His cry can be heard. The image he offers us can be seen. Except to be deaf so as not to hear. Blind so as not to see. Except to do like the ostrich by burying your head in the sand so you can’t see or hear anything. The fall of President Ibrahima Boubacar Keïta, beyond the condemnations in principle, is a serious alert to an entire sub-region of West Africa and to an entire continent more than ever at a crossroads.
This coup in Mali, if you can call it that, is undoubtedly one of the easiest and calmest coup d’etats in history. Not even a drop of blood spilled! Instead, we saw rascals having fun in the pool of the son of the fallen President. Let us remember one thing: the legitimacy of a President of the Republic hangs by a thread. It is never a definitive achievement.
By dint of immobility, trial and error, errors of judgment, renunciation of the decision; by dint of non-governance of Mali having resulted in a situation of in-governability of the country, the power of IBK was already on the ground and you just had to bend down to pick it up. A principle and a question. The principle is that the putsch, followed by the arrest of the Head of State, although his legitimacy has shrunk, is not acceptable. Democracy disapproves of it. The image of Mali and Africa is even more tarnished.
The question now is whether the coup d’etat-resignation, which started with the Kati camp, is a victory for the Malian people or rather for the coup leaders alone. Let’s say it: what comes closest to reality in Bamako is that it is a popular coup. Popularity inversely proportional to the unpopularity of the deposed president and regime. From Modibo Keïta to Ibrahima Boubacar Keïta, the former Sudan is at its fourth coup and the brilliance that goes with it.
Land of Soundiata Keïta, Mali, it should be remembered, is the cradle of the Kouroukan Fouga Charter (Mandé Charter). Let us let History, which has not finished being written, tell us if it is a… good shot. Even if, we analyze from the side of the Djoliba River, the brains of the new military junta would be intellectually more structured than a certain Captain Sanogo.
The time has come to note the warning shot sent by Bamako to an entire ECOWAS area. As if to say to the heads of state of the sub-region: “Be careful, it can explode at any time at home too.” But above all: “It can turn badly from playing with fire.” Free warning? We will know. It must be said and hammered out: the debate on the “third term” coupled with the unquenchable desire of certain leaders to want to do more than the Basic Law would allow is a source of instability.
The lesson that deserves to be learned by all and everyone is that no President, Marshal, Monarch or even Emperor can remain indefinitely against the will of the people. Power inevitably lets go of you when popular legitimacy goes away. For the moment, the Nigerien Mahamadou Issoufou is one of the rare “positive cases” of ECOWAS. Yes, for once, the context of Covid requires, the “positive” finds its place and its rank. This positive is not stigmatized but welcomed. The president of Niger tested … positive for having declared urbi et orbi that he will comply with the Constitution prohibits him from running for a third term. The mandate too? This is the understanding that many have of it.
Let’s do a little geography, the Niger River, since we are talking about President Issoufou, commonly called the Djoliba River in Mandingo in Mali, crosses or runs along six countries which are: Guinea, Sierra Leone, Benin, Nigeria and of course, Niger and Mali. Spring, Jasmine, Carnation, Pangolin… So many names of revolutions or revolts in Africa and elsewhere. Let us call what has just happened in Mali and which is likely to occur throughout the Sahel: “THE DJOLIBA REVOLUTION”.
Last word on the sub-region: Mauritania with the arrest of the former strongman of Nouakchott, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz in open conflict with his successor, President Ghazouani. In an Africa where good governance is not the most shared thing, suing a former head of state for his management can be beneficial, even popular. Be careful, however, to offer only prison as a prospect for a former President of the Republic. The fear of being handcuffed like a vulgar thug can serve as a pretext to cling to power. And finally constitute one of the viral causes of the epidemic or endemic of the mandate in Africa.
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Author: Mamadou Ibra KANE – Seneweb.com
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