Page 50 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 12

MY AFRIKA

then-president Ibrahim Boubacar
Keita and the dissolution of the
National Assembly. Fed up with
incessant corruption, economic
stagnation and a long drawn out
Islamic insurgency in the north, the
people rose up in response. The
revolution’s genesis came in 2018,
when during Keita’s ‘re-election’ the
opposition decried the irregularities
they found. Come 2020, protests
were triggered by parliamentary
elections, which were continually
interfered with using underhanded
Sudan protest 2019. Photo: Online tactics. The June 5th movement was
birthed by opposition politicians and

class had not been neutralized and did not satisfy the protestors and Malians took to the streets with their
the shift away from military rule not the protests went to the streets with demands for change. After months
fully realized. And so, the revolution the protestors demanding a raft of of protests, Keita floated some
continues. changes be made. These peaceful reforms which were rejected by the
protests demonstrated the love and protestors. Eventually, the protests
In October 2020, Nigerian youth solidarity of Nigerians and were turned violent and 14 people were
rose up in mutually-shared frus- befouled by the greatest tragedy in killed. On August 18th, the military
tration at the oppression they had the #ENDSARS movement when mutinied and arrested Keita and
faced for too long at the hands of government forces opened fire on his Prime Minister Boubou Cisse
the Special Anti-Robbery Squad the peaceful, unarmed protestors at and the next day Keita resigned. An
(SARS), kicking off the ENDSARS Lekki Toll Gate Lagos. In a dreadful interim government was appointed
Movement. The valiant youth were irony, unlawfully killing and injuring to pave the way for new elections in
pushing for the disbandment of those protesting against this very 2022, headed by a former military
the bullying and vicious police unit thing. man and deputized by a member
that had been tormenting them, of the junta... which went against
beating them up brutally, raping After the brutal government re- the ECOWAS recommendations
innocent girls, murdering youth sponse, the courageous protestors and desires of the members of the
and arbitrarily denying them their returned to Lekki to remember M5 protest movement. However,
liberties. In December 2017, after a their fallen. International attention it seems plans will continue for the
video of SARS officers killing a man was now firmly on the matter... but elections, prefaced by a constitution-
surfaced, a petition was created by things gradually went quiet. al referendum set for October 2021.
Segun Awosanya calling for the dis- The atmosphere seems to be one of
bandment of the unit. This petition The 2020 Malian Spring began let’s wait and see.
was signed by over 10,000 Nigeri- in the month of June, with mass
ans and presented to the National protests by the people of Mali, who Events in Kenya took a surprising
Assembly. The ‘leaders’ ignored it were calling for the resignation of turn recently when the IMF ap-
and did nothing to act. 3 years later
the fruit of their negligence was Algeria protest 2019. Photo: Online.
produced when, SARS officers shot
and killed a young Nigerian in Delta
State and took his car, sparking a
globally trending Twitter protest
#ENDSARS which led to the swift
disbandment of the SARS unit and
the reassignment of these officers to
other units. This cosmetic response

50 | we tell the true afrikan story