Mali Junta Leader Calls For Enhanced Training Of Military Amid Political Crisis

Mali Junta Leader Calls for Enhanced Training of Military Amid Political Crisis

Malian troops should be better mobilized and trained to end the security crisis amid political uncertainty in the country, military leader Col. Assimi Goita said while speaking on the sixtieth anniversary of Mali's independence

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd September, 2020) Malian troops should be better mobilized and trained to end the security crisis amid political uncertainty in the country, military leader Col. Assimi Goita said while speaking on the sixtieth anniversary of Mali's independence.

"The defense and security forces must be more mobilized, trained, seasoned and put in the material and moral conditions of the victory they are obliged to win against the enemy, for the Malian people. The coming months must be months of decisive results and commitment so that Mali quickly recovers all its security throughout its territory," the leader said, cited by the Malijet media outlet.

He also called for improving the quality of education and combating illiteracy among the population to increase the country's competitiveness "in the subregion and beyond."

Apart from these, the main priorities of the upcoming months will be the battle with corruption and impunity, Goita said.

He also noted it was vital to develop a transparent and fair election system, given the events of the parliamentary election in spring 2020, which were marred with violence and caused the creation of the opposition June 5 Movement.

The junta leader said that the military coup of August 18 was a necessary act to prevent the further deepening of the socio-political crisis in the country. The mutiny resulted in the resignation of then-President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and his government, and triggered the discontent of the international community.

In particular, the Western African ECOWAS regional bloc, of which Mali is a member, has imposed sanctions on the country and cut economic ties with it until the junta's CNSP (National Committee for the Salvation of the People) body is replaced with a civilian transitional government.

Meanwhile, the junta has appointed former Defense Minister Ba N'Daou as the transition president, whose term will last for 18 months before the new government is established.

The Republic of Mali gained independence from France on September 22, 1960, when the French colony of Senegal withdrew from the Mali Federation, which allowed for the then-Sundanese Republic to become an independent state.