'GOLDEN VOICE OF AFRICA' DEFENDS MALI REVOLUTION

Salif Keïta, Mali's leading artist and one of Africa's legendary musicians, defended the revolution underway in Mali following its 2020 people-backed coup d’état. 

In an interview with a French media outlet banned in Mali, France 24, the interviewer asked Keïta, dubbed the ‘Golden Voice of Africa,’ multiple times to clarify his position on Malian President Assimi Goïta and what the interviewer referred to as ‘the junta,’ or the new government. 

According to Keïta, many Malians love Goïta for his government's work to secure and reunify the country, scoring significant victories against t*rrorist groups. On 14 November 2023, the Malian Armed Forces liberated the region of Kidal, previously a stronghold for these violent extremist groups, which Mali has accused France and Ukraine of supporting.

The Malian government suspended in April 2022 both France 24 and Radio France International (RFI) after they had reportedly published fake news about Malian soldiers committing abuses. 

In December 2022, Burkina Faso also suspended RFI’s distribution after the news outlet aired a message from the leader of a trrorist organisation, Al-Qada in the Islamic Maghreb. Then, in March 2023, Burkina Faso suspended France 24 for broadcasting a ‘t*rrorist message.’ 

Niger suspended France 24 in August 2023, a week after the military ousted a Western-aligned leader.

Video credit: @france24

Sources

https://orinocotribune.com/mali-celebrates-liberation-of-kidal-from-separatist-groups/ https://www.la-croix.com/Monde/RFI-France-24-quels-pays-dAfrique-medias-francais-sont-ils-interdits-2023-08-04-1201277831

https://www.dakar-echo.com/apres-rfi-et-france24-lci-suspendu-au-mali-pour-deux-mois-pour-de-fausses-accusations/

https://apnews.com/article/france-24-burkina-faso-freedom-of-media-1156e777056a9171b482ce78da40a015

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/8/mali-accuses-france-of-training-terrorists-in-country

https://apnews.com/article/mali-ukraine-wagner-junta-embassy-rebel-russia-senegal-a471c7332369d154af57ad0816fb3504