French President Francois Hollande has stated that the July elections for Mali’s new president and parliament must go forward as planned. He has committed the French troops to stay through the end of July, so that security conditions will allow the process to move forward. However some analysts doubt Mali will be stable enough to hold an inclusive election, representing all ethnic groups throughout the country.
On Saturday President Dioncounda Traore took the first step in the election process by announcing the formation a “national committee for dialogue and reconciliation”. In corresponding with Mayor Mahamadou Toure of Bourem Sidi-Amar, an ethnic Songhoi village outside the northern town of Timbuktu, he noted “politically we are moving forward”. The president nominated to lead the commission will be Mohamed Salia Sokona, a former defense minister and Malian ambassador to France. The first vice president, Mme Traore Oumou Toure a leading women’s rights advocate, heads the Association for Women's Organizations in Mali (CAFO); is a Songhoi from the northern region. The second vice president is Meti ag Mohamed Rhissa, a Tuareg who works for the customs office.
Mali has a rich cultural history filled with stories carried down verbally from one generation to another by griots. Most villages have a griot, a person of knowledge, who retains information on births, deaths, marriages, and other family matters. Some are also musicians and poets. However all retain an oral history going back many generations. Since the 13th century griots have been advisors and counselors to the king's. Griots were often called upon to maintain order and arbitrate disputes as well. In more recent years their influence has been overlooked at the national government level, but they continue to record the oral history of Malians.
One leading griot, I talked with, believes the government had failed the Malian people, which led to the March 2012 coup that deposed President Amadou Toumani Toure. The current interim president Dioncounda Traore has not been a strong leader, since he could not convince the UN and the Western powers to intervene after the Islamist extremists took over two-thirds of northern Mali. Late last year Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra was forced to step down, accused of being ineffective in gaining UN support for action, even after three resolutions were passed by the Security Council to deal with the Islamists.
Griot leaders, I was told, had offered advice to President Traore, sharing their concerns for the country's welfare, but were ignored instead. The griots believe Mali’s crisis could have been resolved with an organized peace conference--bringing all the parties to the table—to unify the country long before the Islamists had a chance to take over two-thirds of northern Mali.
In mid-March I was introduced by Mayor Yeah Samake to Mamadou Ben Chérif Diabaté, president of the Association of Traditional Communicators in Mali, who is also a leading griot. A well respected and revered communicator and journalist, Diabate comes from the western town of Kita, the cradle of early griots. He was charismatic and knowledgeable on the current issues facing Mali. Yeah Samake had told me that he was very influential and well respected by Mali government and religious leaders.
Diabate told me he believed in conflict resolution based on Mali’s moral and traditional values. He noted the role of traditional communicators could foster peace and solidarity in the community, by informing the people on important matters, thus minimizing conflict along religious and ethnic lines. He believed Mali’s government has shown a weakness in governance and on most social matters.
Diabate said the government has excluded community and village leaders from involvement in the governing process, so today there is a lack of governance in the northern towns. When the Islamists took over these towns last year, elected officials fled. However the village leaders and the imams were still there. As a result the people placed more trust in the local leaders than the government. Mali’s values were represented by these local leaders who stood by their people.
When the Islamists took over the towns they chased out only the government leaders. Committing violence against elected mayors or government leaders was more tolerated than violence against a village elder, or traditional village chief who was more sacred—because he had his roots there.
Diabate noted the problems have only become worse since independence in 1960, since there has been little infrastructure built, a deficit of investment in education and healthcare. Government leaders along the way have been wasteful, and corruption was becoming an endemic problem.
Diabate noted upcoming July elections need to be inclusive, with a national reconciliation conference taking place to unify the country. Also local village leaders need to be invited to participate in the process. “The country needs to be unified”, he noted, “and the outcome of such a conference must also lead to good governance”.
In our discussion on religious tolerance, I mentioned Imam Cherif Ousmane Madani Haidara, the most revered Islamic Preacher. Diabate noted that he had the largest Muslim following in Mali, exceeding twenty thousand. As the leading Muslim cleric Haidara had denounced the Islamists in the northern region.
Diabate knew Haidara well, and set up a meeting that afternoon. Samake and Diabate both accompanied me to Haidara’s three story mosque, office and residence. The large green-domed complex was located on a sealed-off street, protected by metal detectors and private guards. There were concerns in Bamako, since Islamist sympathizers had infiltrated the city.
Imam Haidara had for a long time also been a vocal advocate on health issues including the prevention of HIV/AIDS. He was the first religious leader to support the use of condoms, frowned upon by most Islamic preachers. He was also a proponent of road safety, and encouraged the use of helmets by motorcyclists. According to press reports he became known as the “Red Imam” for his stand on health issues in Mali.
At 5:00pm we were issued into an ornate cavernous room on the third floor, that was well carpeted and appointed with giant chandeliers, overstuffed sofas, and furniture, for entertaining comfortably a hundred people. I was placed adjacent to Haidara, a tall, handsome, sixtyish distinctive looking individual. Samake sat nearby to help interpret our conversation. I told him I admired the mosque, to which he quickly responded, “that it was not paid for with Arab money, but by his funds and that of his followers”.
Haidara noted that “Malians needed to embrace Malians”, and said that Imams “need to preach peace and love, not bloodshed”. He pointed out that the Western culture promotes war by their sale of weapons. “We need to control the race of armaments” noting, that a number of Western and Arab countries support terrorist activities.
Haidara stated that in Mali there has been a lack of leadership, or “they would not have allowed the Islamists to enter the country”. They also had bad intelligence, and did not know the preparations the Islamists were making to take over northern Mali. The main issue in Mali stems from religious misunderstanding. Some mosques located in areas “where poverty conditions exist are more easily lured into extremism”. I found Imam Hairara to be a “Man of Peace”—a unifying force.
I believe any new Mali government needs to include tolerant Imams as advisors on religious matters, who can help to promote peace. Griots are needed to advise on village matters, able to reach out to the village leaders and elders. They are the backbone of perpetuating Mali’s rich cultural history. Tolerant Muslim leaders and griots can help unify the country, and take part in the national unity government.
French officials are going to Mali this Friday to ascertain that the elections will be held. They reportedly have agreed help fund the election process, in conjunction with financial support from the international community, including the United Nations, United States and European Community. I believe the July elections will go forward, in a secure environment. The election outcome needs to be a unified democratic Republic of Mali.