Mali: Musician Salif Keïta Resigns From Transitional Parliament

Harare — Salif Keta, a well-known musician from Mali, has left the assembly that the military, which has been in charge since 2020, established to serve as a legislative body, APA News reports.

Keta was quoted in a message read aloud in open session as saying, “I hereby submit my resignation effective July 31, 2023 as a member of the National Transitional Council for purely personal reasons.”

The brief text, which gives no specifics of the claimed personal reasons, said, “I will always remain the unquestionable friend of my country’s military.”

Salif Keta, 73, a household figure in Afropop and World Music, is also renowned for his political devotion and, since the colonels came into power in 2020 after a coup, his support for the junta. He has consented to serve on the National Transition Council which was established by the junta in 2020 as the legislative body for the so-called transition phase that is supposed to precede a restoration to civilian control.

By Jerry Chifamba