The President of the Republic, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, during his visit to Bamako on Thursday May 30, 2024, made a statement that sounded like a cold shower to his Malian hosts. Speaking at a joint press conference with Colonel Assimi Goïta, the Senegalese head of state was blunt in his response to a journalist’s question about the possibility of Senegal joining the Alliance of Sahel States (Aes), made up of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. Bassirou Diomaye Faye was categorical: “It’s not on the agenda.” Senegal has expressed its preference for the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) and supports the efforts of the regional community organization to bring the lost brothers back into the family home. However, Bassirou Diomaye Faye remains clear: “I’m no one’s mediator, not even ECOWAS’s.”

Read the column – Bah Diakhaté, the Mirror that Ousmane Sonko Does Not Want to Look Into

The statement may have gone unnoticed in Dakar, but it is the subject of much comment in Bamako. The Malian political class were relieved by the strong stance taken by the Senegalese Head of State. However, it has to be said that many Malians looked down their noses at Bassirou Diomaye Faye, not to say that they were somewhat suspicious of him. For their part, the Malian junta found it more or less discourteous that the President of Senegal should delay his visit to Mali. But on the other hand, the visits announced by Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko to strengthen relations with the ruling juntas in the three AES member countries surprised, if not worry, the political players. Mali’s politicians and leaders of civil society organizations, who had applauded the putschists in their early days, were soon disillusioned. Political parties and civil society movements are now banned in Mali, and their leaders hunted down. The press? A lead blanket hangs over the heads of journalists critical of the colonels in power, who think it is time to garnish their epaulettes with the stars of the rank of General. Journalists are disappearing or, at best, languishing in prison.

Read the column – Air Senegal Crash: the Price of our Laxism

The Malian model, not to say counter-model, cannot therefore be inspiring, and our “brothers” in Mali are urging Senegal to consider other perspectives, even though Colonel Goïta’s transition seems set to last forever. Colonel Goïta seized power after a second coup of force on May 28, 2021. He had carried out a first putsch against President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta (IBK) on August 18, 2020, and remained in a “small” role as vice-president, under the shadow of a retired general, Bah Ndaw. Colonel Goïta is not yet thinking of setting a timetable for elections to return power to civilians. Burkina Faso’s “younger brother”, Captain Traoré, has finally shown the way by granting himself a five-year “mandate”, starting from the expiry of the first 21-month transition period, which was due to end in July 2024. A “gift seven-year mandate”, as it were. We didn’t want to be mistaken again about the intentions of the putschists, and recommended putting Mali under provisional UN administration (see Le Quotidien, May 25, 2021).

Bamako and all of Mali are dying
If you want to live without electricity for 72 hours straight in a capital city, go to Bamako! The Electricity of Mali (Edm) company is giving up, unable to guarantee a power supply. “It’s true that Mali used to experience major power cuts when civilians were in power, but not with these permanent power cuts, lasting for days on end; all limits have been exceeded,” laments people in Niamana, Sikoroni, Danfina, 1008 Logements and other Bamako neighborhoods. The consequences are fatal for the economy. The big hotels are closing down, unable to provide any decent quality of service. “Colossal investments are needed,” says a manager at one of the few hotels in the Malian capital still welcoming guests. “We’re forced to run generators all the time, or make huge investments in solar farms, and that adds to operating costs. If the power comes back on, it’s never for more than a couple of hours.” What’s more, customers are scarce. Business and tourism visitors are turning away from Mali.

Read the column – The Only Thing Left for Diomaye and Sonko Is to Appoint Amadou Ba Prime Minister!

The economic gloom is spreading to all sectors. The country’s economy is in the doldrums. Moreover, Mali is no longer able to raise funds on regional financial markets. The latest bond issue, for 80 billion CFA francs, was only 33% covered. The confidence of the financial community has been lost and, in its May 30, 2024 edition, La Nouvelle Libération magazine explained the low level of investor confidence by the fact that “money doesn’t like noise”. Indeed, the sovereigntist rantings of the Malian authorities are scaring off investors. The risk premium on bonds from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger is higher than in the other countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (Uemoa).

The security situation is worsening by the day, yet the Malian military, like their comrades in Burkina Faso, used the need to curb insecurity as a pretext for seizing power. On dark nights, burglaries, hold-ups and other assaults are legion, particularly in the 1008 Logements and Magnambougou districts. Islamist terrorists reign supreme in the country’s inland provinces, including the districts of Ségou, Mopti and the Séwaré area. What has the Wagner group, which was supposed to curb Islamist terrorist action since its arrival in the country in 2022, been up to? “Russian mercenaries mainly provide security for junta bosses.”

Read the column – Diomaye-TV5: A False Scandal

We reported premeditatively that “Assimi Goïta’s regime already knew it was on the tightrope, and sought to ensure its own security by hiring Russian mercenaries” (see our October 4, 2021 column: “The Wagner solution or the cynicism of the Malian junta”). But more seriously, horrific atrocities against civilians have also been reported in many regions of central and northern Mali, particularly in the Mopti area, as in Moura, Attara, Dioura and Dakka Sebbe; The UN is demanding investigations and other missions by experts, some of whom, such as Alioune Tine from Senegal, have been able to document mass killings. These operations by auxiliaries teamed up with Malian soldiers have the appearance of ethnic cleansing against certain populations.

The country’s economy is collapsing, unemployment is on the rise and supermarkets are closing their doors. But the people’s ordeal is exacerbated by the lack of water, in a country where the thermometer reads over 40 degrees, whatever the time of day. Students on the Kabala university campus were forced to make their voices heard loud and clear on Tuesday May 28, 2024, when they staged violent protests because they did not have access to running water for several months. Faced with growing popular discontent, the military regime banned all political and associative activities. To make matters worse, a fierce feud is raging among the country’s top leaders. Prime Minister Choguel Maïga, who had renounced all his democratic convictions to pledge allegiance to the junta, is now in the military’s crosshairs, and his supporters are being arrested every day for their stances taken on social media networks.

The history lesson is that all those in Senegal who enthusiastically welcomed military coups d’état should take a look at Bamako, Ouagadougou and Niamey to realize that they wouldn’t want to live through the fate of their inhabitants. Indeed, the situation in Ouagadougou and Niamey is even worse than in Bamako. After his trip to the sub-region, Bassirou Diomaye Faye should know what to avoid to panic the partners without whom a country like Senegal could not continue to be better off than its neighbours.

Post script: «To govern is not to humiliate, Mr. President!» 

This title is borrowed from my excellent colleague, Mamadou Oumar Ndiaye, of Le Témoin newspaper, who published a text applauded by many on June 22, 2021. It criticized the “humiliating” circumstances and events surrounding President Macky Sall’s dismissal of Generals Birame Diop and Jean-Baptiste Tine. Le Témoin republished the text with a certain malice the day after the appointment of these general officers to occupy the positions of Minister of the Armed Forces and Minister of the Interior and Public Security respectively in Ousmane Sonko’s government. We couldn’t help but think of this text after President Bassirou Diomaye Faye’s unceremonious dismissal last week of General Souleymane Kandé, Chief of Staff of the Army and cumulatively Commander of the Special Forces. General Kandé was in fact the military authority with the most firepower. Did he lose the confidence of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces?

Certainly! So it’s hardly surprising that he should be replaced in the same way as General Officers Diop and Tine. Only, the latter seem to have been treated better. The generals “humiliated” by Macky Sall were given prestigious posts. General Birame Diop was promoted to Military Advisor in the UN Peace Operations Department, and General Tine was exiled as Ambassador to Moscow. But Souleymane Kandé suffered the ultimate humiliation, when he was relegated to the post of Defense Attaché in a third-category Senegalese embassy in India. To replace Colonel Abdoulaye Traoré. It must be unusual, in organized armies, to see an Army Staff General appointed to a post to replace a Colonel!

General Joseph Louis Tavarez Da Souza, whom President Abdou Diouf would later accuse in a memoir of having wanted to carry out a coup d’état, was relieved of his command on May 31, 1988, and appointed ambassador to Bonn (Federal Republic of Germany). Abdou Diouf had taken the necessary steps. General Da Souza was later recalled to Dakar and automatically retired. However, I have a plea to make to you, General Kandé: please don’t lose your stripes, which you have earned with great merit. Some fear this, but it would be playing into the hands of those you have defeated in military operations. There is no sufficient reward that the Nation could give you for your record of service against the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance. It is truly “unpatriotic” not to recognize this inestimable merit. I’m going to cast a statuette in your image!

By Madiambal DIAGNE / mdiagne@lequotidien.sn

  • Translation by Ndey T. SOSSEH / Serigne S. DIAGNE