Mali: Bah N’Daw named interim President until civilian rule returns

The former Minister of Defence Bah N’Daw was appointed on Monday as transitional president of Mali by a committee set up by the junta in power since the putsch of 18 August. The decision was announced on national television by the head of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP), Colonel Assimi Goïta.

Former Colonel Major

The new president is expected to serve as head of state for several months before a return to civilian power. Bah N’Daw, a 70-year-old former colonel major, is a retired air force officer who attended the Paris War College during his training.

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Bah N’Daw had been aide-de-camp to the former Malian president, General Moussa Traoré, who died on 15 September and had served as deputy chief of air staff under the presidency of Alpha Oumar Konaré from 1992 to 2002.

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He was appointed Minister of Defence in May 2014, after the resignation of Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga, following a defeat of the Malian army in Kidal.

Goïta, who until now had assumed the role of ‘head of state’ according to the “transition charter” of the CNSP, has been appointed vice-president, according to the briefing on national television.

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“The swearing-in ceremony will take place on Friday 25 September,” said Colonel Goïta.