In neighboring countries like Côte d’Ivoire or Senegal, the coup d’état in Mali sounds like a threat and a warning to Heads of State who cling to power
A few hours after the coup militaries arrested Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on Tuesday, the neighboring countries of this western African state closed their common borders. The coup d’état that overthrew the President in power since 2013 is a topic of discussion across West Africa, reports Le Monde Afrique today.
Neighboring countries fear the contagious effect of the coup in Mali. In Côte d’Ivoire, for example, which has returned to a wave of violence after the announcement of the candidacy of the current Head of State to the presidential elections on October 31, the events in Mali are seen as an alert. “I hope that Alassane Ouattara (the incumbent President) sees well what is going on, because the Mali coup is an appetizer”, commented to the French newspaper the opponent Nathalie Yamb, fierce opponent of the President, expelled from the national territory in 2019.
The article recalls that in 2002 an attempted coup d’etat in Côte d’Ivoire set the country on fire, leading to a deep political and military crisis. More recently, in 2017, a fourth riot in three years caused the Ivory Coast government to bow, forced the government to comply with the demands of the mutineers. Since then, Alassane Ouattara has been working on her relations with the Army, aware of the threat that it may pose, and keeps in exile the opponent who accuses of wanting to instigate a coup, Guillaume Soro, former leader of the rebellion and candidate for the presidential elections.
According to Le Monde Afrique, also in neighboring Senegal, the Mali crisis is worrying and appears on the front page of all Wednesday’s daily newspapers. “Watch out for contamination! “, Warned La Tribune, who ironically designates Senegalese President Macky Sall as“ service firefighters ”and his three counterparts from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) involved in mediating between Malian coup and power in Bamako. In addition to the fear of side effects in the region, the Mali coup is also “a warning to third-term holders,” wrote the Senegalese daily L’Evidence, referring to the wishes of the Presidents of Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea to apply for a third term. A message that also targets Macky Sall, suspected of wanting to run for the third time in Senegal’s 2024 presidential election.
