Malian Military Junta Chief Appoints Country’s Afro pop Singer Salif Keita As Advisor

By Murphy Akanji

The leader of Mali’s military junta, Colonel Assimi Goita, has appointed the famous Malian Afropop singer, Salif Keita, popularly referred to as the ‘Golden Voice of Africa as one of his advisors.

Goita, who ousted the country’s elected president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, in 2020, announced this in a decree he personally signed.

The transitional president, in a decree dated 11August, 2023 and published 14 August 2023, appointed five new special advisors. The decree does not give details about the singer’s new role.

The 73-year-old singer has been a strong supporter of the junta, endorsing its narrative of national sovereignty and calling for the departure of UN peacekeeping troops from Mali.

Recall that Salif Keita had, in a letter some days ago, resigned from an assembly set up by the military in power since 2020 to act as a legislative body.

He gave no reason for his letter of resignation, stating that he would always remain “the undisputed friend of my country’s soldiers.”