Kritikere siger, at den tidl. mangeårige præsident “ATT”, der nu lever i eksil, blev overvurderet i udlandet og førte det enorme vestafrikanske land ud i politisk, moralsk og økonomisk ruin – også den angiveligt stenrige kupgeneral i 2012 ses i et blakket lys.
BAMAKO, 18 March 2014 (IRIN): As Mali embarks on a difficult period of national reconciliation (forsoning) and the rebuilding of a fractured state, two key figures from the recent past – former president Amadou Toumani Toure and General Amadou Haya Sanogo, who staged a coup in 2012 – are being asked to account for their actions (stillet til regnskab).
Coming full circle
Amadou Toumani Touré, 65, is known to all as ATT. Often described as “the good soldier”, he was the head of the presidential guard and the Red Berets, an elite parachute regiment.
ATT seized power on 26 March 1991 from then-president Moussa Traoré, after a period of mass demonstrations that were savagely repressed by the security forces.
Twenty-one years later, in 2012, ATT was forced from the presidential palace in an improvised coup by junior officers from the Green Berets wing of the army.
The officers were aggrieved by what they saw as a national army in collapse and a series of humiliating defeats by insurgents (oprørere) in the north.
Accused of “high treason” (højforræderi)
Despite elections and a return to civilian rule, ATT remains in exile in Senegal, facing accusations of “high treason” for his failure to defend Mali adequately against Tuareg separatists and Jihadist militants.
In the 1990s, ATT was repeatedly called a role model for African leaders.
He presided over a critical 14-month transition period during which Mali held the ground-breaking National Conference to map out its future; authorities and Tuaregs signed a national pact to resolve problems in the north; and elections were held in 1992, won by Alpha Oumar Konaré, with ATT pointedly declining to stand.
Outside of Mali, ATT’s reputation was enhanced by his mediation efforts in the Great Lakes and the Central African Republic. He was associated with high-profile campaigns to eradicate guinea worm and promote children’s rights.
ATT became president in 2002, after facing few serious challenges. But the 2007 elections were notably stormier.
According to political observers in Mali, by the time of the coup in March 2012, ATT’s base had diminished substantially.
Reputation versus reality
According to Kadidia Sangaré Coulibaly, president of the National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH), ATT’s reputation abroad was overblown.
“I used to attend conferences and come away embarrassed,” Sangaré told IRIN, adding:
“I was always being told that our country was the model democracy, so strong on human rights. But ATT would not even meet our organization. He only wanted people bringing him good news.”
Sangaré is dismissive of (affærdiger) the “consensus” style of politics associated with ATT’s presidency. “It meant there was no opposition, no criticism, no debate, and that can not be good in a democracy.
“Power is not something you cut up like a cake and hand out to people you like. He forgot that competence is what counts when choosing people. We were left with a clan running things.”
For Sangaré, the coup was no surprise:
“I felt like saying to people who admired Mali: ‘Ha! Look at our model democracy.’ I have to say the coup was bad in its way, but necessary for the greater good.”
But Mamadou Samaké, an academic attached to the environmental ministry, says nepotism and massive corruption are only part of the story.
“It is legitimate to talk of ‘high treason’ here. Never in 53 years of enjoying our own sovereignty did Mali sink so low,” Samaké argues
Samaké says ATT’s negligence in protecting the north could be considered complicity with the enemy:
“It is certain, at some level, there were deals being cut with Islamists on the release of hostages, the division of ransoms (løsepenge), cocaine. All this must be investigated.”
“Ingratitude and hypocrisy”
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http://www.irinnews.org/report/99797/a-tale-of-two-soldiers-mali-s-past-leaders-called-to-account
