Mali’s junta appoints general to replace sacked civilian prime minister

BAMAKO – Mali’s junta on Thursday named General Abdoulaye Maiga as the new prime minister, a day after sacking civilian Prime Minister Tchogel Kokalla Maiga after he criticized military leaders.

General Maiga has so far served as government spokesman in the West African country, which has been plagued by jihadist and separatist violence and is under military leadership following successive coups in 2020 and 2021.

His appointment to replace civilian Prime Minister Kokalla Maiga appears to confirm the military’s hold on power.

In June 2022, the junta promised to organize elections and transfer power to citizens by the end of March 2024, but later postponed the elections indefinitely.

“Major General Abdoulaye Maiga has been appointed prime minister,” said a decree issued by junta chief General Asimi Goita and read out by the president’s general secretary on state TV channel ORTM.

General Maiga was not among the first group of colonels who overthrew the civilian president in August 2020 and were subsequently promoted to general, but he quickly joined them.

The 43-year-old is one of the junta’s most public faces and is usually seen wearing a beret and military uniform.

He was the voice of the junta on state television during its break with former colonial ruler France and the strategic, military and political turn towards Russia after the second coup.

He served as acting head of government for several months in 2022 after the prime minister suffered a stroke.

In September of that year, he sharply criticized France, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the leaders of several West African countries at the UN.

– Voice of the junta –

General Maiga also announced the cancellation of defense agreements with France and the banning of French media outlets RFI and France 24, and condemned UN accusations of abuses against civilians by the army.

This year the junta used it to announce the end of a major peace deal with separatist rebels in the north, the suspension of political parties and the severance of diplomatic ties with Ukraine.

In 2023, it was General Maiga who stated that the presidential elections, originally scheduled for February 2024, would be “slightly delayed due to technical reasons” and that new dates would be announced “later.”

The date has not yet been announced.

The general has an extensive resume, including a doctorate in international security.

Trained as a security force, he served with the African Union, the regional bloc ECOWAS and the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Unlike members of the junta, such as its leader General Goita, it is unknown whether Maiga took part in the fighting.

– Lack of clarity –

He takes charge of the government at a time when the junta remains silent on the possibility of a return to civilian rule.

General Goita is considered a likely candidate in any future presidential elections, despite the military’s initial commitments not to run for the presidency at the end of the so-called transition period.

Civilian Prime Minister Chogel Kokalla Maiga was sacked on Wednesday after publicly condemning the lack of clarity over the end of the transition period.

On Saturday, he said the confusion could create “serious problems and the risk of a reversal.”

Kokalla Maiga, appointed by the military after the second coup, was considered isolated, with little room for maneuver.

His comments on Saturday fueled speculation as to whether he was preparing for a possible future presidential election.

Since 2012, Mali has been plunged into a political and security crisis caused by attacks by jihadists and other armed groups, as well as separatist fighting in the north.