Wednesday 4 September 2013

Mali’s new leader vows to unite divided nation

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita
pledged on Wednesday to unite Mali and end
endemic corruption as he was sworn in to lead
the deeply-divided west African nation’s
emergence from months of political crisis and
conflict. Keita, a former prime minister, began his five-year
term in the presence of outgoing transitional
leader Dioncounda Troare and more than 1,000
Malian politicians, diplomats and military
personnel as he took the presidential oath at a
ceremony in the capital Bamako. “I will not forget for a moment that you put me
where I am to take care of all aspects of the life of
our nation. National reconciliation remains the
most urgent priority,” he said after taking an oath
to preserve the constitution, democracy and the
law. Mali’s constitutional court confirmed Keita’s
landslide victory three weeks ago in the August
11 presidential run-off against former minister
Soumaila Cisse after an election campaign
focused on law, order and ending the culture of
impunity in public office. “I want to reconcile hearts and minds, restore true
brotherhood between us so that all the different
people can play their part harmoniously in the
national symphony,” Keita said to huge applause. The 68-year-old veteran of the political scene in
Bamako is charged with leading the country out
of a 17-month political crisis sparked by a military
coup. Army officers angry at the level of support they
had received to combat a separatist Tuareg
rebellion in the north overthrew the
democratically-elected government of President
Amadou Toumani Toure on March 22, 2012. In the chaos that followed, the Tuareg seized
control of an area larger than France before being
ousted by Al-Qaeda-linked groups who imposed
a brutal interpretation of Islamic law on the local
population, carrying out amputations and
executions. Their actions drew worldwide condemnation and
prompted France to launch a military offensive at
Mali’s behest to oust the Islamists in January. The country’s return to democracy has allowed
France to begin withdrawing some of the 4,500
troops it had sent in. “France welcomes the new president of the
Republic of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, on the
occasion of his swearing-in ceremony,” said
French foreign ministry spokesman Philippe
Lalliot in a statement. “Granted a strong legitimacy with the outcome of
the recent elections, the new authorities can now
meet the needs of the people of Mali and the
challenges facing Mali. France is ready to give its
full support to President Keita.” The son of a civil servant, Keita was born in 1945
in the southern industrial city of Koutiala, the
declining heartland of cotton production in the
country. His election in the first presidential polls since
2007 was seen as crucial for unlocking more than
$4 billion in aid promised by international donors
who halted contributions in the wake of last
year’s coup. His daunting workload over the coming months
will include tackling an economy battered by
political chaos and war, as well as healing ethnic
divisions in the north and managing the return of
500,000 people who fled an Islamist insurgency. Corruption has tainted government institutions
and the military in Mali since it gained
independence from France in 1960 and the
country remains in the bottom third of
Transparency International’s Corruption
Perceptions Index. A 2012 report by the Washington-based think-
tank the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace Foundation report spoke of “state
complicity with organised crime” as the main
factor enabling the rise of armed Islamist rebel
groups in the north. “I will put an end to impunity, to the special
privileges that are at the heart of the perversion of
our judicial and state institutions,” Keita vowed. “As president, I will ensure the proper
management of public funds. I will put in place
appropriate mechanisms to ensure transparency
and efficiency of public spending. No one will get
rich illegally off the back of the Malian people.”

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