BAMAKO (AFP) – Mali’s former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who led the West African country from 2013 until he was ousted in a coup in 2020, died at the age of 76 in Bamako Sunday, his family said.
Keita was two years into his second five-year term when in 2020 he faced widespread street protests against his government and was toppled by the military, which is now under regional sanctions for failing to restore civilian rule.
“President IBK died this morning at 0900 GMT in his home” in Bamako, a family member told AFP, using the former leader’s initials; several other family members confirmed his passing.
The cause of Keita’s death was not given.
In the weeks before the 2020 coup, he had been struggling with protests fuelled by his handling of a militants and failure to turn around Mali’s floundering economy.
Snail-paced political reforms, decrepit public services and schools, and a widely shared perception of government corruption also fed anti-Keita sentiment, driving tens of thousands of protesters into the streets.
Keita was forced out of office on August 18, 2020 by young military officers who staged an uprising at a base near Bamako before heading into the city, where they seized Keita and other leaders.
Under pressure from the West African bloc ECOWAS, the junta that emerged from the rebellion released Keita on August 27 and returned him to his residence in Bamako, under surveillance.
He suffered a mini-stroke the following month, and was sent to United Arab Emirates for treatment.
The ruling junta would stage another coup in May 2021.
ECOWAS this month agreed to sanction Mali after the junta proposed it would to stay in power for up to five years before staging elections – despite international demands that it respect a promise to hold the vote in February.