MALI
Taking the Blame
Mali’s prime minister and entire government resigned on Thursday, a month after the massacre of an estimated 160 Fulani herders by an ethnic vigilante group, and following the largest protests in decades.
A statement from the president’s office accepting the resignation provided no explanation as to why Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga was stepping down, but the move came a day after legislators mulled a no-confidence motion in response to the government’s failure to stop ethnic militias and Islamist militants, Reuters reported.
Malian authorities have detained five people suspected of taking part in the massacre. Even so, Maiga and President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita have failed to disarm the militia that many believe organized it in spite of promises to do so.
On March 23, men believed to be from the ethnic Dogon hunter community massacred ethnic Fulani herders in the central Mali village of Ogossagou, following a jihadist attack on an army post claimed by an al Qaeda affiliate that includes many Fulani members.
Mali has for years struggled with internal fighting and terrorism. The deteriorating political situation now jeopardizes reforms the government had pledged to implement this year – a process key to the country’s stability – including the agreement for peace and national reconciliation, South Africa’s Daily Maverick reported.
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