Mali ex-Prime Minister Modibo Keïta dies aged 78

AFP | Mali’s former prime minister Modibo Keïta has died at the age of 78, interim premier Moctar Ouane said Saturday, the latest in a string of deaths of high-profile political figures in the West African country.

Ouane did not specify the cause or time of death for Keïta, who served as prime minister from 2015 to 2017.

On Twitter, Ouane paid tribute to “the memory of a great servant of the state and of a man steeped in our ancestral values of integrity, honor and dignity”.

The announcement came just a day after the funeral of veteran opposition leader Soumaila Cissé, who died of COVID-19 in late December.

Former president Amadou Toumani Touré died in November, while ex-president Moussa Traoré passed in September.

Modibo Keïta was 1 of 6 prime ministers to serve under president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta – who stepped down in August.

From 2014 until his appointment as prime minister, Modibo Keïta had been the president’s representative for peace talks between the government and Tuareg rebel groups waging an insurgency in the country’s conflict-ravaged north.

Initially a teacher, Modibo Keïta went on to hold numerous posts, including minister and ambassador.