Mali’s ruling military junta has reportedly appointed an interim prime minister to act in place of leader Choguel Maiga, who has been ordered to rest by his doctors, reported The Reuters.
According to a government statement, Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, who is currently working as a government spokesman and minister of territorial administration, has been appointed as the new acting prime minister.
Earlier this month, Paris-based Jeune Afrique magazine first reported that Mali’s Prime Minister Maiga had suffered a heart stroke, citing sources close to him.
When Reuters contacted one of Maiga’s advisers, he deniedabout the stroke reports, and his office said he would resume his duties by the following week. But, he did not.
Mali is governed by a military junta that came to power in a 2020 coup and has promised to organise democratic elections in 2024. The junta named Maiga, a former opposition leader, as prime minister of the transitional government it leads in June last year.
Mali’s military government has been criticised for its military cooperation with Russian mercenaries and repeated delays to elections.
Last week, the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali announced that it would resume troop rotations on Monday, one month after Malian authorities suspended them and accused foreign soldiers of entering the country without permission.
France also pulled its forces from Mali last week. The Barkhane force had been operating in the country for the last nine years in order to help the local army counter, terrorist groups.
But Relations between Bamako and Paris have constantly deteriorated since the two military coups in August 2020 and May 2021. Notably, the arrival of Russian paramilitaries in the Sahel country at the invitation of the government was a key factor in France’s decision to pull out its forces.
The French government says it will relentlessly pursue the fight against terrorism in the Sahel and West Africa.
