Former Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta died on Sunday 16 January 2022 at his home in Bamako at the age of 76. Ze Africanews immerses you in the career of the statesman, from his beginnings in politics until his accession to the seat of president of Mali between 2013 and 2020 and the putsch that overthrew him.
Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, often known as IBK, was part of the left and had a rather singular career under the presidency of Alpha Oumar Konaré, first president (1992-2002) of the democratic era of Mali. He was Prime Minister from 1994 to 2000.
He was an unfortunate candidate in the 2002 presidential election, but he continued to seek Malians’ support until he was elected head of state in 2013. In September 2018, he was again taken to the head of the country for a second term in a country still plagued by jihadist attacks. The Constitutional Court proclaimed him on 20 August 2018 winner of the presidential election with 67.16% of the vote in the second round on 12 August, for 32.84% to former Finance Minister Soumaïla Cissé. However,
IBK was then confronted with jihadist violence since the north of the country had fallen in March-April 2012 under the control of jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda. It took the intervention of French troops in January 2013 through Operation Serval which allowed to kill or drive away a good part of the jihadists.
IBK was overthrown on 18 August 2020 by a putsch led by Colonel Assimi Goïta after several months of protests against corruption and the impotence of the state in the face of insecurity. I do not want any blood to be shed for my continued business,” IBK said, admitting his forced resignation.
The international community as well as ECOWAS condemned the coup d’état perpetrated against the president who, according to them, was democratically elected.
With deteriorating health, the Malian Plique man, a victim of a stroke, was evacuated to the Arab Emirates on 1 September 2018. It was agreed (…) to allow the medical evacuation of Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta for humanitarian reasons for a maximum duration of one month”, reads the statement of the National Committee of Public Safety (CNSP), created by the military in power.
He finally died after a transient ischemic stroke, a short-lived type of stroke that can lead to a heart attack.
