Category Archives: Politics

Although Mali does not have a famous anti-colonial politician, there were many that influenced its political foundations. My person of interest was Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali during the political unstable era of 20th century. Before he became known as a famous politician, Touré studied to be a teacher and later joined the army in 1969, receiving military training in France. It was interesting to find out that he was once part of the National Guard of Mali for a short period of time.

He came into the political scene by advocating speech and legal skills he acquired from many school. Touré first came to international prominence on 1991, as the leader of a coup that toppled Traoré.  Touré’s coup was generally welcomed because of Traoré’s poor policies, which had led to popular unrest, often resulted in violent riots. It was after days of such rioting that the coup took place, and it seemed to many that Touré had acted in the name of the people and brought stability and democracy to the country.

His impact was very significant in bringing peace and stability to politics in Mali. In preparation for Mali’s 2002 presidential elections, Touré resigned from the armed forces in September 2001. He ran as an independent candidate in the first round of voting, held on April 28, and did well, receiving the most votes. He prevailed in the second round, held on May 12, with the support of more than 40 parties and received 65 percent of the total vote, although the election was marred by low voter turnout and allegations of fraud. Nonetheless, Touré was inaugurated on June 8, 2002. As a president without party affiliation, he did not have the automatic support of a party in the National Assembly, but he offered to work with any party or coalition of parties that could gain legislative control. To that end, in September 2002 the Presidential Bloc coalition was formed to work with Touré, and he enjoyed the support of a stable legislative majority for a few years.

He continued his popular legacy in the Mali political scene by running for the next election. Touré was reelected in 2007, again running as an independent candidate, although he had the backing of the Alliance for Democracy and Progress. Touré captured 71 percent of the vote in the first round of voting, held on April 29, thus avoiding the need for a runoff election. In legislative elections held a few months later, the ADP won the majority of seats, and Touré again was able to enjoy stable legislative period.

However, On March 21, 2012, a coup was launched by a faction of the military that was unhappy with the way the administration was handling rebel activity in northern Mali. As the mutinying soldiers announced the suspension of the constitution and closed the country’s borders, Touré’s actual whereabouts were unknown, but he was said to be in a safe location guarded by troops still loyal to him. A week later Touré confirmed that he was still in Mali.  Nevertheless Toure was extremely influential in building the foundations after the colonial era of Mali.

The protests that swept through north Africa and the Arabian peninsula made the headlines throughout out the world. However, it was only the cries and protests of those in big and oil rich countries that were heard. Small countries that are considered to have next to nothing to offer the world never made the headlines, in-fact, they never do until something really gruesome or catastrophic happens.

The people of Djibouti can be placed in such a category. A lot of human rights violations and press stifling occurred in Djibouti, these events occurred concurrently with the arab spring.

Djibouti is a semi-presidential republic. An elected president exists alongside a prime minister and Cabinet who are responsible to the legislature of the state. It differs from a parliamentary republic in that it has a popularly elected head of state who is more than a purely ceremonial figurehead, and from the presidential system in that the cabinet, although named by the president, is responsible to the legislature, which may force the cabinet to resign through a motion of no confidence.

Ismail Omar Guelleh, the president of Djibouti has been in office since 1999, but his government has been in power for 34 years. Guelleh amended the constitution to make it possible for him to have a third term in office. The Djiboutian people frowned on this, and they began to protest, these protests took place in the months leading up to the Djiboutian presidential election in 2011. On February 18, thousands rallied against the president, gathering at a stadium, intending to stay until their demands were met. They were calling for the resignation of the president. The demonstration escalated into clashes after dusk, as police used batons and tear gas against stone-throwing protesters. And like everywhere in the world where the sitting president becomes unpopular, opposition leaders from the Union for Democratic Change, an umbrella group of three opposition parties, gave speeches at the demonstration, reiterating and echoing the cry of the people calling for Guelleh to step down. The peaceful protests quickly turned into clashes, and these were reported to be growing in frequency and seriousness. This occurred on the second day of protesting. Anti-government protestors had another run in with security forces barely 24 hours after hundreds of protestors demanding the president step down threw stones at riot police who fired back with tear gas. One policeman and one protestor lost their lives. The organizers and front runners of the protests were arrested. These arrests proved to be the wrong approach. The next day, the authorities were forced to release three opposition leaders, as opponents of President Ismail Guelleh clashed with police once again. The opposition parties and protest organizers were scheduled to meet on the 24 February to plan more mass protests for the following day, and subsequent days if their demands were not met. Police arrested 300 organisers during and after the mass protests on February 18. Torture and other inhuman means were being employed to seek information from the detainees and other activists with the main aim being to quell the protests. Another major protest had been scheduled for February 24, none of the leaders showed up. Bourhan Mohammed Ali, a main opposition leader said he feared the protests had lost momentum. Protests had been planned for March 4, but it remained to be seen if the Djiboutians would be able to continue to protest in the absence of the 300 who had been earlier arrested. As if to show that he answered to no one, the president and ruling party ordered the opposition to cancel a match they had planned for March 3. The opposition refused, and on the day of the protests, police and government troops filled the streets and blocked the main route to the capitals stadium the location of the planned protest. This succeeded in stopping the protest. Another protest failed to get off the ground because 4 opposition leaders were arrested by security forces before the protest day. The sitting president was using the state apparatus to silence the voice of the masses in the name of security and stability, when his very actions were doomed to collapse the very institution he showed he was protecting. Anyone who spoke up was scooped up by the security forces for questioning and then detained without trail. The president of the Djibouti human rights league was also arrested for lashing out against the government and the human rights violation it was perpetrating on its people. Another move that should have made headline news was the expulsion of US election monitors a month before the polls. The president was sowing seeds of dictatorship. Not to anyones surprise, the president won by a whooping 80% margin in an election that was boycotted by the opposition. It is such behavior that spurs the rise of revolutionary figures, a local hero who will brave the odds and stand firm to fight for justice. One who will not employ the barrel of the gun, but rather the use of intellect and written procedure to overcome the very force that put the procedures in place to quell any form of rebellion. Djibouti needs to breed one quickly.