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Mali’s military junta leader executed a major shake-up on Wednesday by removing Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga and the entire government from office. This action followed a rare public rebuke from Maiga, who had criticized the junta’s grip on power, marking a notable moment of friction between the civilian government and the military leadership.
“The duties of the prime minister and the members of the government are terminated,” said a decree issued by Colonel Assimi Goita and read out by the secretary general of the presidency on state television station ORTM.
Amid escalating jihadist and separatist violence, the West African state of Mali has remained under military rule since the twin coups of 2020 and 2021, which saw the overthrow of the civilian administration and ushered in an era of military governance that has yet to resolve the country’s pressing security challenges.
The junta, which had initially assured the nation in June 2022 that it would conduct elections and restore civilian rule by March 2024, has since shifted course. The planned elections have been indefinitely postponed, leaving the timeline for Mali’s return to democratic governance uncertain and fueling skepticism about the junta’s intentions.
Maiga, appointed by the military in 2021 to lead the government, took a bold step on Saturday by publicly denouncing the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the transition to civilian rule. His statement shed light on the growing frustration with the military’s failure to establish a concrete and transparent timeline for returning Mali to democratic leadership.
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He said the confusion could pose “serious challenges and the risk of going backwards”.
In his role as prime minister, Maiga had been widely regarded as somewhat sidelined, constrained by the overarching power of the military junta. His capacity for independent action was severely restricted, and he found himself with limited options in navigating the complex political dynamics dictated by the ruling military.
His dismissal creates further uncertainty in an already troubled context.
Since 2012, Mali has been plunged into a political and security crisis fuelled by attacks from jihadists and other armed groups, as well as a separatist struggle in the north.
