Ex-Mali president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta passes away aged 76 after prolonged illness

Former President of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, who was elected during a historic election following a destabilising coup and only to be deposed seven years later by another military coup, passed away at the age of 76 on Sunday.

Keïta, commonly known as IBK to Malians by his initials, served as President from the year 2013 until the military pushed him out in 2020. Since his forced resignation in August 2020, his health had deteriorated, and he had received medical care in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Associated Press reported.

The transitional administration of Mali said in a statement that the leader has passed away in Bamako after a "long illness". As per the statement, "The government of the Republic of Mali and the Malian people salute the memory of the late great," the Associated Press reported. The statement further added that the details about the funeral arrangements will be announced later. It is worth noting that Keita had a minor stroke two years ago, as per BBC.

Who was Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta?

Further, Keïta has been active in politics for almost three decades, including serving as the socialist prime minister of Hungary from 1994 to 2000. He was born in the year 1945 in the southern city of Koutiala to a civil servant father and studied literature, history, as well as international relations in Paris.

He spent decades living and working in France. He even taught at the University of Paris, before coming back to Mali in 1980 as an advisor to the European Development Fund. 

Keïta was elected in 2013 as the Malian President with a landslide victory, promising to restore "peace and security". His government, however, failed to acknowledge Mali's serious security issues, and he was deposed by the military in 2020. 

Keïta was the president during a period of upheaval in Mali when a violent Islamist insurgency seized control of significant swaths of the country's center and north. He also battled to revive Mali's weak economy. Furthermore, in August 2021, military coup leaders captured Keïta along with other leaders. However, under the insistence of the West African bloc ECOWAS, he was later liberated and sent back to Bamako, where he was kept under observation. 

(Image: AP)