After Govt Reshuffle, Mali Military Detains President, Prime Minister

Following a government reshuffle on Monday, military operatives in Mali detained the president, prime minister and defence minister of the interim government, President Bah Ndaw, Prime Minister Moctar Ouane and Souleymane Doucoure, respectively.

Reuters reports that the soldiers took the duo to a military base in Kati, the outskirts of capital Bamako.

Officials told Reuters that the army acted that way because two of its military leadership were removed after the said government reshuffling.

THE WHISTLER reported that Mali’s former Minister of Defence, retired colonel Bah Ndaw, was on September 25, sworn in as the country’s interim president.

Recall that mutinying soldiers had in a military coup in August removed the country’s Prime Minister, Boubou Cisse, and the President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, from office.

But pressure from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and other international bodies compelled them to release those detained.

ECOWAS and the international community also gave the interim government a period of 12 months to return the country to constitutional order.