09/22/2020 Mali (International Christian Concern) – The military took over Mali earlier this year when they depose the president of the country, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. The leader of the military junta that seized control is a man named Col. Assimi Goita. He announced yesterday that he will be taking over as the country’s new vice president when the new transitional government starts. He also announced that the new president of the country will be a former minister of defense named, Col. Maj. Bah N’Daw.
This means that the military has effectively seized full control of the Malian government. Coups such as this are not new in Africa. Sudan had a similar coup in the late 80’s and then again last year. Zimbabwe last year saw the fall of its long time ruler Robert Mugabe. In total, there have been 34 attempted coups since 2010 throughout Africa. Many of Africa’s current leaders took power through coups.
Despite this, coups have often led to some of the most corrupt and violent regimes in Africa’s history. This is the main worry with the new government in Mali. The Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS), tried to make the military junta turn power over to civilian rule. They are worried that if the new government in Mali is run by the military, it could turn into another Sudan under the rule of Omar al-Bashir. This would be very bad for the minority Christian population of Mali, who already suffer from being second class citizens, and from large extremist populations in the country. Please pray that this new government would be fair and free for all of their citizens.
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