On Wednesday, November 25, the Mali Council of Ministers decided on a wide range of appointments to ministries, especially for national reconciliation, with personalities who do not necessarily agree, and especially with a very large number of soldiers in governorships (13 of 20 regions). Among the named soldiers, one name is more controversial: Brigadier General Keba Sangaré, attached to a recently reported UN report.
In the aftermath of the reconquest of the Nordic countries, in 2013, the Malian press painted him as a “brave officer”, “known for his severity and self-sacrifice”. He was then still a colonel and led the operations in Timbuktu. But it is a completely different portrait of General Kéba Sangaré that the UN expert group on Mali addresses in its report written in August last year.
General Kéba Sangaré is described there as one of the obstacles to the implementation of the peace agreement in 2015. After becoming army chief of the army, he is said to have made “dubious decisions” for several months. delays and “undermines the trust between the parties” involved in the disarmament process, demobilization and reintegration of armed groups.
In particular, the UN report condemns “repeated attempts” by the Malian army to “circumvent the agreed quotas” for the various parties, for example for the reintegration of ex-rebels into the ranks of the national armies and the distribution of posts. command.
► To read also: The Ogossagou massacre in Mali: UN report involves senior officials
The UN points to its passivity in the Ogossagou massacre
Even more serious: UN experts point to General Kéba Sangaré’s responsibility in The Ogossagou Massacre. In February last year, 35 people were killed and 19 were missing after an attack by Dogon’s militias against this Fulani village. “Informed of the threat”, “more than ten hours” before the attack, write UN experts, General Kéba Sangaré would have let the Malian soldiers posted in the village leave, before the arrival of relief, so that the tragedy would unfold.
“Following this attack,” the report concludes, “the President of Mali released General Keba Sangaré from his commander at the center. In May last year, he was fired from his post as chief of staff of the Malian army. “On Wednesday, however, it was he who was appointed governor of the Bougouni region by the transitional authorities.
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