Mali ‘s head of coup appoints new cabinet to key military officers Mali News

The military receives strategic ministries of national defense, security and reconciliation.

In nine months he led the second coup in Mali and a few weeks later, Colonel Assimi Goita he has appointed a new cabinet to the country’s transitional government, and the military has received strategic ministries of defense, security and national reconciliation.

An announcement on national television on Friday said Colonel Sadio Camara, one of the leaders of the August 2020 coup that ousted former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, had been reinstated as defense minister.

Goita, who was eventually the vice president of the transitional administration that emerged after Keita’s tenure, in late May, led another coup that ousted interim President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane.

The colonel complained that the couple had not been consulted about a cabinet reshuffle that would replace Camara, as well as Modibo Kone, who was in charge of security.

Kone did not join the new government lineup. Another colonel, Daoud Aly Mohammedine, was appointed Minister of Security. Meanwhile, a man named Modibo Kone was also appointed environment minister, but a spokesman for the M5-RFP coalition, which led the month-long protests against Keita, said he was a civilian and had nothing to do with the colonel.

The appointment of a new government could ease the transition with Mali’s partners who want the transitional government to proceed with the elections scheduled for February 2022.

Goita, who was vice president of the previous transitional government, was sworn in as interim president on Monday. On Wednesday, he appointed Choguel Kokalla Maiga as civilian prime minister in response to international demands, and said elections are scheduled for next year.

Last month’s coup caused an international uproar as the African Union and the Economic Community of 15 Commonwealth of West African States (ECOWAS) overthrew the regional bloc Malia.

France, a country with thousands of troops destroyed in the war, also suspended military cooperation.

On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans ventilated his country’s 5,100 strong A military operation to fight armed groups in the West African Sahel region.

A new government has been announced on Mali’s national television – the best way to describe this: the same but different

– Nicolas Haque (@nicolashaque) June 11, 2021

Nicolas Haque of Al Jazeera, who has been widely reported in Mali, said many of the cabinet members were “well-known names” who were members of the military government.

However, he added that the new line-up appeared to meet regional demands to form a government from an inclusive section of Malian society.

“ECOWAS asked Goita, when he took power, to form a national unity government, and it seems that the government he has announced, despite well-known faces, is that national unity government,” Haque said.

“You have members of the M5-RFP, the civil society movement that caused Keita’s downfall; You also have former members of Keita’s ruling party; and of course, members of the military junta, ”he added.

“The new face is Abdoulaye Diop, who will be the foreign minister,” Haque said.

“It will be a difficult task to rebuild relations with international actors, especially ECOWAS, which has put Mali under sanctions and suspended the country from the union – but most importantly, to restore the connection with France.”