Mali passes controversial bill granting General Goïta five more years in power

Mali’s Council of Ministers adopted a controversial bill granting the head of the military junta, General Assimi Goïta, an additional five years in power. According to the government’s cabinet statement, the bill will revise the Transition Charter, giving the Head of State a five-year renewable mandate. Junta leader Goïta has led the West African nation since orchestrating two coups in 2020 and



2021. 

Earlier last month, Goïta dissolved political parties amid growing opposition, a spike in activist kidnappings in Bamako, and a recent pro-democracy protest. Mali, a landlocked nation in the semi-arid Sahel region, has been embroiled in political instability that has swept across West and Central Africa over the past decade.