Mali arrests ex-PM Maiga over fraud in presidential jet purchase deal
Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga, who was from 2017 to 2019 the Prime
Minister of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, overthrown a year ago by a coup
d'état, was jailed on Thursday in a case of alleged fraud, announced his
lawyer, Kassoum Tapo.
Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga, 67, is a political heavyweight in
Mali and has also served as foreign minister, defense minister and intelligence
chief. He has never officially confirmed or denied his intentions to run for
president.
"Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga was placed under arrest by
Mali's Supreme Court on Thursday in a case of damage to public property,"
said a member of the Supreme Court, who requested anonymity. He is suspected of
fraud, forgery, use of forgery, and favoritism, according to this source.
The former head of government arrived in mid-afternoon at
the Bamako prison, a prison official said.
He is suspected mainly in connection with the purchase in
2014, when he was Minister of Defense, of a presidential plane for 20 billion
CFA francs (about 30.5 million euros), an acquisition pinned by the Auditor
General's Office (OAG), an independent Malian authority that has denounced
practices of overbilling, embezzlement of public funds, fraud, influence
peddling and favoritism.
The former Minister of Economy and Finance, Bouaré Fily
Sissoko, was charged and placed under arrest on Thursday on the same grounds, a
magistrate said. She was transferred to the women's prison in Bollé, Bamako.
"Big cleanup"
The Supreme Court prosecutor, Mamadou Timbo, had announced
on Tuesday on public television that this case was not closed, contrary to what
had publicly stated on August 19 Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga, who had ensured that
he had been cleared by the dismissal in 2018 of the case.
"At one point, under the former regime, it had been
instructed to the prosecutor of the Republic of the economic and financial pole
of then to close the case without continuation (...). Subsequently, another
Minister of Justice considered that this case should not be dismissed.
Additional investigations were conducted (...). The judicial work will be done,"
the prosecutor explained at the time.
"There is nothing more dangerous for the health of a
Republic than impunity," he said.
"This affair of the presidential plane can splash many
people, it is perhaps the beginning of a great washing," commented a
former senior Malian official.
Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga is reputed to have an important
network in Malian and regional security circles. He heads the ASMA-CFP
(Alliance for Solidarity in Mali-Convergence of Patriotic Forces).
He was forced to leave the Ministry of Defense in May 2014,
after a heavy defeat of the army in Kidal (northeast) against the Tuareg
rebellion.
Military in power
Appointed Prime Minister in 2017, he had been forced to
resign in April 2019 after the massacre the previous month of some 160 Fulani
civilians in Ogossagou (center) and a series of protests against the management
of the state.
President Keïta was overthrown by a military putsch on
August 18, 2020, following several months of protests against corruption and
the powerlessness of the state in the face of violence.
The new strongman, Colonel Assimi Goïta, has pledged to hand
over to civilians after presidential and legislative elections scheduled for
February 2022.
But doubts persist as to whether the authorities will be
able to meet the deadlines in the six months remaining, given the considerable
obstacles to be overcome in this country that has been in turmoil for years.
The spread of jihadism and violence of all kinds goes hand in hand with serious
political and social crises.
The violence in Mali, which began with independence and then
jihadist rebellions in the north, has spread to the center and south of the
country, mixing with inter-communal conflicts and vicious attacks in areas
where the state's influence is very weak.
The phenomenon has spread to neighboring Burkina Faso and
Niger, where groups affiliated with al-Qaeda or the Islamic State also operate.
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