Boubou Cissé

At first it seemed the soldiers were seen as a bargaining counter to secure the extradition of former prime minister Boubou Cissé former foreign minister Tiéman Hubert Coulibaly and Karim Keïta son of the late president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta from their supposed exile in Côte d'Ivoire...

The junta has offered to free the soldiers if Côte d'Ivoire hands over exiles including Karim Keïta the profligate and allegedly hugely corrupt son of the late former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta former Prime Minister Boubou Cissé and former defence minister Hubert Tiéman Koulibaly...

Pro-government nationalists will feel vindicated in their resentment by the social media circulation of what purports to be a recorded call between former Malian premier Boubou Cissé and the Ivorian president Alassane Ouattara discussing the impact of sanctions on Mali and the naivety of the Bamako leadership (AC Dispatches 14/01/22 Turning up the heat on the junta)...

Boubou Cissé who was IBK's prime minister at the time of his fall is one of them...

Boubou Cissé was recently accused of diverting Covid-19 funds by Amsterdam-based investigative media ZAM to which he has not responded...

In the closing days of December attention was suddenly drawn away from these big picture challenges for Mali's transitional government amid allegations that Keïta's last prime minister Boubou Cissé and five others – including the secretary general of the presidency Sékou Traoré – had organised secret meetings raised funds for civil society and trade union activity and consulted a prominent spiritual counsellor...

That may have been a reference to Chérif Ould Tahar a former jihadist in Gao who was said to have been appointed chief negotiator by ex-Prime Minister Boubou Cissé...

So it was 'yes' to the publication of the Transitional Charter that was negotiated with Mali's political class in September 'yes' (in some form) to the demand to have a civilian head the transition but 'no' (so far at least) to releasing those arrested during the coup (including former Prime Minister Boubou Cissé) and 'no' to the dissolution of the CNSP...

During the day it gathered steam and President Keïta and his son Karim Keïta along with Prime Minister Boubou Cissé were soon in custody...

The support of the regional leaders gave Keïta the breathing space to reconfirm his prime minister Boubou Cissé who rapidly announced a reduced six-member cabinet to run the country while he woos other factions to join a national unity government...

Keïta caved replacing Maïga with the technocrat Boubou Cissé reportedly with the imam's behind-the-scenes endorsement...