Accountability Lab Mali’s Country Director, Ms. Doussouba Konaté, shared a panel with former US President Barack Obama on November 17, 2022 in Washington as part of the Obama Foundation’s Democracy Forum. On December 8, 2022, a press lunch was organized in his honor by Accountability Lab Mali.

During this lunch, the press and other guests were entitled to the intervention of Doussouba Konaté in English. Very comfortable and with a great knowledge of the realities that undermine Africa, particularly the Sahel, Doussouba Konaté succeeded in convincing the former American president, Barack Obama, and all the participants of the Forum, who have several once applauded.

In her speech translated into French, the Country Director of Accountability Lab Mali said: “We need to change our community, our region and our continent. Nobody will do it for us.” Thus, it catalyzes a new generation of active citizens and responsible leaders to develop and implement positive ideas for integrity.

Doussouba Konaté also did not fail to recall:“We live in conditions that have effectively created, in a way, these military coups. In the case of Mali, more specifically, there were massive demonstrations in the streets of Bamako, because the entire population, young people, mothers, absolutely everyone protested against the government simply because there is a failure in the execution of the social contract, in the sense that the population does not have access to basic social services, including the security of people and their property. 

There is also corruption which creates a lot of exclusion, people do not have access to economic opportunities. The list is still long. There are different issues that led to these military coups. Today, we are in a situation where part of the population supports these military coups, believing that it is the strongest institution, because the government has not been able to fulfill its sovereign mission. »

Originally published in Afrikinfos-Mali

Kibo Ngowi