Death of Ibrahim Boubacar Keita: an African president close to France

He is a pure product of the Malian political seraglio. Former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta died on Sunday at his home in Bamako at the age of 76. Information confirmed by several members of his family and those around him. The one nicknamed “IBK” experienced a meteoric rise under Alpha Oumar Konaré, the first president (1992-2002) of Mali’s democratic era. A political figure who claimed to be from the left, he was Prime Minister from 1994 to 2000. Before reaching the top: in 2013, he was elected President of Mali before being overthrown by the military in August 2020. he former president was a partner of choice for France, as opposed to the current power and strained relations with Paris.

Unhappy candidate in the presidential election of 2002, this man from the South, originally from Mandé, gets his revenge by gaining access to the Koulouba palace, the seat of the Malian presidency in Bamako, ten years later. In September 2013, the victory of the new Malian leader was hailed by France, which might even have encouraged it. It must be said that the context is particular: following the overthrow during a putsch of the president of the moment Amadou Toumani Touré, the citizens are called to a form of national union to raise the country. At the time, Paris insisted that the ballot be held quickly following the shooting stopped. IBK then appears as the one who can rebuild Mali. For his part, French President François Hollande applauds: “We are at its culmination, because it is a victory, a great victory for Mali that we are celebrating today”, he declared at the Stade du 26 mars during of the investiture ceremony of his future ally.

The politico-military crises that punctuate Mali push IBK into the arms of its French neighbor. In this African country of 20 million inhabitants, the difficulties are numerous: Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta must face the Tuareg rebellion in the north of the country which, since 2012, has weakened the central power. This destabilization of the region has been increased by the appearance of jihadist groups, some affiliated with Al-Qaeda, which at the end of 2012 accentuated their hold on the major towns in the north of the country. It was at this time that Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta had asked for help from France. In January 2013, former President François Hollande launched Operation Serval – which later became Operation Barkhane – to drive out the Islamists from the north. During his visit to Mali, the French head of state was welcomed as a liberator in Bamako.

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IBK, an important French ally

“We won this war, we drove out the terrorists, we secured the North, and finally, it was not the easiest, we, you have, succeeded in organizing elections in an indisputable way”, launches t he confided to thousands of Malians. Two years later, the Franco-Malian friendship will appear in a more serious context: IBK is at the forefront of the demonstration of January 11, 2015 in Paris, in reaction to the attacks once morest Charlie Hebdo and the hyper kosher at Porte de Vincennes. For the tenant of the Elysée, his relationship with the Malian president symbolizes the return to peaceful relations with the African continent. The objective is also to make people forget the Dakar speech, in February 2012, where former President Nicolas Sarkozy declared: “African man has not entered history enough.” The relationship between the two presidents will be strongly marked by France’s commitment to Mali.

But the honeymoon between the Malian social democrat and his French counterpart is being battered by the security situation. The latter is deteriorating in Mali and relations between Bamako and Paris are taking a turn for the worse. In summary: it is the fault of the other if peace is not restored in Mali. Among the reproaches made by France to its African partner: its passivity in the implementation of the Algiers peace agreement signed in 2015 with the Tuareg separatists. If Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta is dragging his feet, it is because the agreement is hardly popular in the south and west of the country. Despite the internal quarrels, IBK remains faithful to the socialist president during his official interventions. In January 2017, the African head of state pays tribute to François Hollande at the Africa-France summit in Bamako, considering that he is “the most sincere and loyal” of the French heads of state towards the ‘Africa.

The Paris-Bamako connection broken

IBK was re-elected in August 2018 once morest Soumaïla Cissé, then leader of the opposition and who died in December 2020 of Covid-19. François Hollande has left the Élysée, but his successor Emmanuel Macron warmly congratulates his counterpart on his re-election. The two men already know each other. A few months before the Malian election, IBK is received discreetly by his French counterpart at the Elysée Palace to discuss security issues. France and Mali are on the same line: no question of negotiating with the jihadists. While two French soldiers have just been killed on the ground, the Malian president declares in an interview granted in February 2018 to the World “I send my condolences to their families. They died for our freedom. This strengthens our resolve to fight terrorism together.”

Two years later – in December 2019 – President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta calls on Malians not to “bite the hand” of those who come to their aid. It reacts to the anger of part of the population, annoyed by the presence of foreign forces on their territory. In August 2020, IBK was ejected from the political scene, overthrown during a coup. France then lost a privileged interlocutor in Africa. After a second putsch in May 2021, the junta led by Colonel Assimi Goïta announced its intention to lead the country for several years, while it had previously committed to organizing presidential and legislative elections on February 27 in order to allow the return of civilians to power. Between Bamako and Paris, the line is now blurred.