A mass demonstration in the Malian capital Bamako on Friday that demanded the resignation of the government over the country’s ongoing security crisis attracted some two hundred thousand protesters, according to its organizers.
The demonstrators are demanding improved security in central Mali and the resignation of the current government.
The leader of the High Council of Islamic Affairs Imam Mahamoud Dicko and the Sherif of Nioro were the main initiators of the march, which also attracted opposition politicians and civil society activists.
The vicinity of the Independence Monument was crammed with people, while the organizers described the mobilization as unprecedented in Mali.
Some of the protesters chanted “IBK out, Boubeye out” in reference to President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and his Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maïga.
Speaking in the Bambara local language, Imam Dicko called for calm and restraint while reiterating his appeal for the resignation of the Prime Minister and his government which he described as “unable to get Mali out of its current security quagmire.”
For him, the government is to be blamed for the Ogossagou massacre of 23rd March which left 160 dead, all of them being of Fulani extraction.
The disenchanted protesters also decried the protracted strike that has rocked the education sector.
They made in clear they are poised to take to the streets every Friday until the departure of the current Prime Minister and his government.
The meeting took place with no reported incident.
AD/te/pn/as/APA