Page 133 - Empires of Medieval West Africa

E m p i r E s o f m E d i E v a l w E s t a f r i c a

(an administrative system with many
layers and functions in which most of
the important decisions are made by
appointed officials). This bureaucracy
was characterized by corruption, inef-
ficiency, and mismanagement.
When Traoré took power in 1968,
he kept the single-party system intro-
duced by Keita. By the 1980s, the Malian
people were calling for a democracy with
competing political parties. But Traoré
ignored them and maintained his power
through support from the army.
In 1991, citizens in Mali’s capital of
Bamako were marching to protest the
lack of democracy when soldiers shot
some of them. This led to anti-govern-
ment riots. A group of young army
officers removed Traoré from power
and sent him to prison. Their leader
was Amadou Toumani Touré (b. 1948).
Touré became greatly respected for
taking the control of Mali away from
the military and restoring a civilian
government.
In 1992, Mali returned to democ-
racy by electing Dr. Alpha Konaré (b.
1946) as its president. The election gave
Mali a leader who had graduated from
A Targui (singular for Indiana University in the United States. His wife, Adam Ba Konaré, was
Tuareg) stands beside a university professor who published books on the Mali and Songhay
surrendered guns set Empires.
in cement as part of
President Konaré’s efforts to rebuild Mali were slowed by his
this monument to
country’s weak economy. In 1994 and 1995, students rioted over
commemorate the end of
economic hardship and soldiers had to step in. The government was
the Tuareg revolt in 1995.
also troubled by a Tuareg uprising in the far north that was settled by
a peace agreement in 1995. In May 1997, Malians reelected Konaré,
and in 1998 he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree at Michi-
gan State University.

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