2023-08-29 16:19:59
African music star Salif Keitawho this summer has been touring Spain through festivals such as Las Noches del Botánico or Pirineos Sur, has risen as the main cultural ambassador of the new government of Mali, the dictatorship of Colonel Assimi Goita who overthrew the elected president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in 2020. Keïta, 73 years old and a direct descendant of King Sundiata Keita (1190-1255), who was the founder of the Mali Empire, has been appointed adviser to the Military Junta that runs the Sahel country, mired in a security crisis since 2012 when a regional insurgency broke out in the north of the country, fanned by jihadists who in 2015 advanced towards the capital Bamako and neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.
His support for coups and dictatorial regimes began in 2019, when there was significant popular support for Mali’s military junta taking power after mass protests against then-President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta (who is not related to the musician). . The musician joined this rebellion by posting a video in which he addressed Boubacar directly in the Bambara language, demanding that he oppose the former colonial power, France, which then had troops in Mali fighting Islamist militants. Keïta described French President Emmanuel Macron as a “child” and accused his government of financing jihadists.
That same year, in statements to The Guardian, he assured that “democracy is not a good thing for Africa,” arguing that for such a regime to succeed, people have to know what it means. “How is it going to be understood when 85% of the country’s people cannot read or write?” asked the musician, proclaiming that the best thing for Mali would be for it to be ruled by “a benevolent dictator.” As the BBC has pointed out, their views are out of step with those of most Africans: a recent survey published by the Afrobarometer research group reveals that almost 70% of people in 30 African countries say that “the Democracy is preferable to any other type of government. But in Mali things change: 82% of people trust “some” or “a lot” in the army.
In 2020, Keïta was part of the interim parliament, the National Transitional Council (CNT) created by the coup leaders as part of what they called a transition to civilian rule. “This is a defining moment for Mali. It is very important that we correct the mistakes that have been made in the past,” he told the Bloomberg news agency at the time. Since then, violence in the country has been increasing and in 2022 it reached the highest levels ever recorded, while the military governs with the support of the group of Russian mercenaries Wagner, gratefully received by the dictatorship since its main objective is that the UN forces leave Mali.
Keïta resigned from his position in the CNT for “purely personal reasons”, but without ceasing to proclaim that he would remain an “undisputed ally” of the military led by Colonel Col Goïta. And on August 11 it was learned that behind his resignation, what was actually there was a promotion to become his special adviser on cultural affairs.
The news of this appointment has fallen like a jug of cold water among many of his followers and also among several African musicians who have expressed their disappointment. Not only because Keïta is one of the most responsible for spreading African music throughout the world, but also because he had always been a staunch defender of human rights on other occasions. He has albinism, he was ostracized by his family and separated from his society (he always wanted a teacher but they prevented him, claiming that he would “scary” his students), and since he became famous he has tirelessly campaigned against discrimination. In 2005 he created the Salif Keïta Global Foundation to raise awareness about this condition and to denounce the perception that exists in some African countries that albinism is a bad omen, since people who have this skin pigmentation deficiency are often rejected and intimidated – as Keïta was as a child – and in some countries, such as Burundi and Tanzania, they are killed and body parts are cut off to be used in rituals.
However, we must forget that there have already been other cases of African musicians supporting military dictators, such as the Congolese music star Franco the Sorcerer of the Guitar, who became a propaganda weapon for the genocidal Mobutu Sese Seko in exchange for receiving ownership of a nightclub and a vinyl factory.
#Democracy #good #Africa