{"id":253928,"date":"2024-11-21T12:06:21","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T12:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\/"},"modified":"2024-11-21T12:06:21","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T12:06:21","slug":"mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"Mali junta chief fires prime minister in row over return to civilian rule"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"article-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ghanaweb.com\/imagelib\/pics\/421\/42183660.295.jpg\" alt=\"There had been calls for Ma\u00efga to step down over his criticism of the junta\" title=\"There had been calls for Ma\u00efga to step down over his criticism of the junta\" width=\"295\" height=\"188\" \/> <span class=\"image_caption\"><span>There had been calls for Ma\u00efga to step down over his criticism of the junta<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"-webkit-user-select: none; -webkit-touch-callout: none; -moz-user-select: none; -ms-user-select: none; user-select: none;\">\n<p id=\"article-123\">Mali&#8217;s military leader has sacked the Prime Minister, Choguel Kokalla Ma\u00efga, and his government.<\/p>\n<p>It follows rare criticism by Ma\u00efga of the junta&#8217;s lack of clarity about a once-promised return to democracy.<\/p>\n<p>A decree read on state television by junta leader Col Assimi Go\u00efta said the duties of the prime minister and the members of the government were &#8220;terminated&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Mali has suffered years of jihadist and separatist violence &#8211; resulting in military coups in 2020 and 2021.<\/p>\n<p>The junta had promised to hold elections and hand back power to civilians by March 2024, but subsequently postponed the vote.<\/p>\n<p>Relations between the military president and his civilian prime minister have been worsening for some time.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, Ma\u00efga while speaking to his supporters, criticised the lack of transparency in the running of the transition.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The transition was supposed to end on 26 March, 2024, but it has been postponed indefinitely, unilaterally, without debate within the government,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is not normal in a government,&#8221; he added, revealing that as prime minister, he was not informed about the junta\u2019s decision to postpone elections.<\/p>\n<p>He also underscored the potential challenges and risks the current confusion surrounding the transition could pose for the country.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to his dismissal, there had been calls for Ma\u00efga to step down following his outrage against the military leaders.<\/p>\n<p>A pro-military group, the Collective for the Defence of the Military, on Sunday urged him to resign within 72 hours, describing his outburst as betrayal.<\/p>\n<p>But his dismissal comes as little surprise given signs of a rift within the ruling class for months.<\/p>\n<p>In June, Ma\u00efga openly endorsed a document by one of his supporters who had been arrested a month earlier for criticising the military\u2019s prolonged stay in power.<\/p>\n<p>Ma\u00efga was appointed prime minister in 2021 by the junta leader, following a second coup against the transitional president Bah N\u2019Daw.<\/p>\n<p>The 66-year-old has previously served as a minister on several occasions and ran three times as a presidential candidate.<\/p>\n<p>His departure from the government further raises uncertainty about the running of the transition, and his future.<\/p>\n<p>There is speculation that he might morph into an opposition figure who could potentially challenge his former boss for the country\u2019s top job, whenever elections are scheduled.<\/p>\n<p>There have been mixed reactions locally and regionally after his sacking, with supporters saying he should aim for the presidency while other see him as a traitor.<\/p>\n<p>The junta had popular support when it seized power three years ago.<\/p>\n<p>It followed huge demonstrations against former President Ibrahim Boubacar Ke\u00efta, amid complaints of corruption, economic uncertainty and insecurity.<\/p>\n<p>The junta has however struggled to contain jihadist violence &#8211; and there is growing anger from a large part of the population against the transitional government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There had been calls for Ma\u00efga to step down over his criticism of the junta Mali&#8217;s military leader has sacked the Prime Minister, Choguel Kokalla Ma\u00efga, and his government. It follows rare criticism by Ma\u00efga of the junta&#8217;s lack of clarity about a once-promised return to democracy. A decree read on state television by junta [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":253929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-253928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-africa"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mali junta chief fires prime minister in row over return to civilian rule - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mali junta chief fires prime minister in row over return to civilian rule - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There had been calls for Ma\u00efga to step down over his criticism of the junta Mali&#8217;s military leader has sacked the Prime Minister, Choguel Kokalla Ma\u00efga, and his government. It follows rare criticism by Ma\u00efga of the junta&#8217;s lack of clarity about a once-promised return to democracy. A decree read on state television by junta [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-21T12:06:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/42183660.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"382\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/21\\\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/21\\\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\"},\"headline\":\"Mali junta chief fires prime minister in row over return to civilian rule\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-21T12:06:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/21\\\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":494,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/21\\\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/42183660.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Africa\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/21\\\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/21\\\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/21\\\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\\\/\",\"name\":\"Mali junta chief fires prime minister in row over return to civilian rule - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/21\\\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/21\\\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/42183660.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-21T12:06:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/21\\\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/21\\\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/21\\\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/42183660.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/42183660.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":382},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/21\\\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mali junta chief fires prime minister in row over return to civilian rule\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"Ghana mma provides breaking news, top stories in Ghana, Africa, business, entertainment, politics and more.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5\",\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ghana News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2024\\\/author\\\/ghanamma\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mali junta chief fires prime minister in row over return to civilian rule - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mali junta chief fires prime minister in row over return to civilian rule - Ghanamma.com","og_description":"There had been calls for Ma\u00efga to step down over his criticism of the junta Mali&#8217;s military leader has sacked the Prime Minister, Choguel Kokalla Ma\u00efga, and his government. It follows rare criticism by Ma\u00efga of the junta&#8217;s lack of clarity about a once-promised return to democracy. A decree read on state television by junta [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\/","og_site_name":"Ghanamma.com","article_published_time":"2024-11-21T12:06:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":382,"url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/42183660.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ghana News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ghana News","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\/"},"author":{"name":"Ghana News","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#\/schema\/person\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5"},"headline":"Mali junta chief fires prime minister in row over return to civilian rule","datePublished":"2024-11-21T12:06:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\/"},"wordCount":494,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/42183660.jpg","articleSection":["Africa"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\/","name":"Mali junta chief fires prime minister in row over return to civilian rule - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/42183660.jpg","datePublished":"2024-11-21T12:06:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#\/schema\/person\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/42183660.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/42183660.jpg","width":600,"height":382},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/11\/21\/mali-junta-chief-fires-prime-minister-in-row-over-return-to-civilian-rule\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mali junta chief fires prime minister in row over return to civilian rule"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"Ghana mma provides breaking news, top stories in Ghana, Africa, business, entertainment, politics and more.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/#\/schema\/person\/c70749f3edfbfcd92d45e933f0fe10b5","name":"Ghana News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ghana News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024"],"url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/author\/ghanamma\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}