Had enough of french neocolonialism and now want true political and economic sovereignty. Due to popular demand, french troops have been ejected from mali, but this colonial power is intent on striking back. Mali had to cancel this years Independence Celebrations after attacks by separatist rebels in the Northern Region of the country. So who is behind the current insurgency in mali . Hello, im mubarak kenya and this. Is africa today. In this weeks episode we are focusing on the situation in mali as the country marks 63 years of independence from france. The second segment of our program is on the recent decision by burkina faso to expel the defense atache of the embassy of france from the country. The expulsion came following intelligence reports that he was carrying out subversive activities. Existing french of imperialism. Mallys famous northern timbuktu city that once served as Major Intellectual hub of islamic civilization, is once again the focal point for terrorist organizations operating in the sahel region. Due to the worsening security situation, the government of mali cancelled festivities planned for the anniversary of the countrys independence celebrated on september 22. Many people in mari like this activists here believe that france is still meddling in the countrys internal affairs by insiding terrorists and sommes pas contre la france, nous sommes pas contre les francais, mais oui nous sommes contre la politique francaise au mali, nous sont contre la politique francaise au sahel, les choses ont change, nous pensons que la france mantient le status quo pour quil reste mettre de lieu, well on the situation in mali we have contacted david hundain, he is the founder of the west african weekly. Thanks lot for your time sir today. Thank you very much for having me. Now timbuktu, the historic city situated in northern mali, is under threat from foreign back terrorist organizations. This comes just after french president Emmanuel Macron said, mali, burkina faso or niger would have disappeared if paris had not intervened militarily in the sahel. Now are we seeing a common pattern here of france creating a pretext for reoccupying mali after its ejection from this country . So yes, you would have to say that that is, that certainly looks to be the case, um, as is very well known, of all the colonial powers to have ever operated in africa, france historically has always been the most unwilling to let go, and when when it is forced to let go, it has historically been the most vengeful. When when it is letting go so for example the the way it um basically trash the entire country of guine when the country voted for its independence in 1958 i think thats that is still something that that is in the memory of most people within francaford africa secret Intelligence Agency the dgsc is one is actually one of the most active on the african continent particularly of in north africa and the sahel they they have lot of resources in that region. So its actually not beyond the realms of possibility. The renewed military activity, allegedly by the tuarek separates and terrorists in mali came after the ejection of french troops from this country. The question that arises here is whether imperialist france is striking back following its auster in mali by encouraging separatists pushing for the balcanization of mali. I think that is definitely a real possibility. Um, for those who may not know, france has actually d worse than that in the past, so in a few seconds ago, alluded to what it did in guine, before it was forced to leave the country, basically um, before leaving the country, the french um occupy colonialist made sure that the country was essentially sabotaged from day one, they sorted farmland, they poison water sources, they burnt down government buildings, Civil Service buildings, they they they destroyed hospitals, roads, you know, the the colonial administrator famously made a comment that there mustnt be a single functioning typewriter, the country of guine by the time they leave, thats how vengeful historically the french have been. When they are forced to leave a country that they are illegally occupying, so um, its it, you know, france potentially being behind the resurgence of of of terrorist violence in in in mali, is actually not the worst thing it has done, so it definitely is within the capability of france, it definitely is something france can do and has done, armed groups from northern mali claim that they captured some parts of this region, this has increased fears of the collapse of a peace deal between the exrebels and government forces. Meanwhile, United Nations mission in mali, minusma is gearing up for a significant milestone as it readies itself for a scheduled withdraw from mali on the 31st of december 2023. Wayne, the head of minusma recently briefed the Un Security Council on the situation in mali. Lets take a listen. Parties have adopted. Diverging positions regarted regarding the fate of camps to be uh left by the mission. Here the transitional authorities have signaled to the mission that they themselves intend to retake minusma camps following the missions withdrawal. Now mali cancelled Independence Day celebrations this year after deadly attacks by insurgents in the north. The countrys interim president asiita says the anniversary will be celebrated in sobriety following attacks. That have left dozens of people dead. Now whats your take on this decision . Well, i think its its its a relatively sensible decision, i think its a its a pragmatic decision, um, and i think it signifies that the the regime currently in charge of mali, at the very least understands the severity of the task that lies ahead of it, so instead of hiding behind sort of antitriumphalist signaling, the regime seems to understand. Theres a lot of hard work ahead, so basically it doesnt really make sense to waste time and energy on you know on necessary fapery and signalling right now, so the message that they put out in my opinion was exactly right, its a time for sobriety and its a time looking forward for looking to the task ahead instead of patting yourself on the back for what those far has been a largely symbolic um series of events um the real revolution if you like is still is still ahead it still lies ahead. Um, the the majority of the hard work still lies ahead, but the good news from an african point of view is that it seems as if the regime in mali at the very least seems to realize that, so thats definitely a good thing. Mali Needs International assistance in confronting the security challenges it faces. Its quite clear that previous french intervention in mali did not end terrorism, but actually led to increasing attacks. Russias foreign minister Sergey Lavrov visited mali in february and was warmly welcomed in bamako as the west african nations seats military help for his fight against armed groups. Lavrov said defense ties between the two countries are improving. Last year and the start of this year cooperation in military and military technical areas was given new page in their development. A large consignment of Russian Aviation technology was sent thanks to which marleys army was able to conduct. Successful operations against the terrorists who remain active on their territory, well thats a lava of the are speaking, now mari has turned it in efforts to end insecurity in the country, now is this a prudent decision, violence is actually worse now than it has ever been, then clearly it means that at the very least um that partnership or whatever it is with france clearly hasnt worked, so its time to try something new, so even if if its not the case that its actually france that is instigating violence and its not actually france is behind it, at the very least you have to say france, the part the the the partnership that france has has has been completely useless from from imalian point of view, if the violence is actually higher is is more serious now than it has ever been, the the death toll now is higher than it has ever been, then of what use is the socalled military partnership with france, so it definitely does make sense that they would look to another option right, and its so happens that the only other option right now is, you know, the option that lies eastward, be that russia or china, so i think thats the pragmatic thing to do, thats what i would do. In their shoes, i dont really see that they have any other option. Malli exported 69. 3 tons of gold last year, compared to 63. 9 tons in 2021. These statistics are an indicator that the interim government in mali led by asimi goita is moving in the right direction. It appears that france is unhappy with this progress and therefore intent on messing up this country. I definitely do agree that. Really is not happy with that, and the reason is very simple, um, if for anyone who knows a thing or two about International Economics or geopolitics, um, you know that frances position as a first world country, as as economically um advanced and economically developed country is almost entirely dependent on this thing called france of freak right, the 14 nations across africa which france basically maintains a Colonial Group on the you know the pleava of lobsided agreements that he has with them and the the Economic Crime known as the cfa frank for those dont know the cfa frank is essentially colonial money which 14 african countries including the likes of mali, have been forced to use, so if individual member eerst members of france africa starting to break out of that. Toxic colonial relationship and are proving that when you break out of france and freak you will actually do better economically. Thats very bad news from a french point of view because it means that the other nations within france of are going to you get clued on very quickly that there is life outside of france and the malis new constitution passed overwhelmingly with 96 the vote in a june 18 referendum french is no longer the. Official language, now the movie is seen as a clear blow to france a linguistic student says it is important to use the local language bambara, cest une langue qui est vraiment importante dans notre societe, car tous les maliens, toute la population malien a presque parle presque dans ce langue quoi, donc cest tres important, dapprendre le bamankan, well last question to you, now what in your opinion are the political and cultural implications of this decision 63 years after independence . Now what the the potential, what the the um act of dropping french as an official language potentially means is that Going Forward theres a possibility that mali and any other country in france of freak which follows in its footsteps and drops french as an official language can um explore the possibility of potentially adopting possibly. English or you, another language which enables it have wider access to the world. I think um, this is definitely the a step in the right direction for mali, and i think the rest of france and freak should be paying very close attention to the results that mari um will post in in the in the coming months and years as this effect of sort of um winning itself of that toxic dependency on france basically. The the sefa frank and the use of the french language, what results that this is going to have on the French Economy and on french integration with other on on on the malian economy sorry, and on malian integration with with other economies in africa, i think other countries in france should be paying very close attention, while indeed it appears mari is moving in the right direction by ending his toxic ties with france, i like to thank our guest there, davidine founder of the west african. For his incisive analysis and you now take a short break before our next topic on how france is yet again meddling in burkinafasos internal affairs stay with us france medaling in burkina faso la cest lindependance larmee a libere le pays nous sommes. France purchased these territories and they have owned the territories in terms of the central banks, i think the. Financial success is dependent on whether the government represents the people. Relations between burkina faso and his former colonizer france have continued to warsen since a popular september 20. 22 military takeover. In the most recent incident, Burkina Fasos government ordered french embassys defense atache emmanuel paschier to leave the country due to subversive behavior. Many people in burkina faso perceive frances military presence in the country as a failure as it did not improve security in the insurgent at west african country. Regular protests take place in the country where citizens express their. Immediatement nous voulons pas ambassadeur francais au burkina comme alard, comme satan au burkina, comme ous voulons ambassadeur, dun ambassadeur terroriste, cetait dun terroriste, nous voulons pas ambassadeur, il nest pas autorite au burkina, to discuss the escalation of tension between france and burkina. Far so we have contacted abdul latif ahmad, hes a senior nigerian journalist, thanks lot for your time sir today, thank you for having me, now burkina faso has ordered uh the French Defense official to leave the country for engaging in subversive activities, do we have indicators of exactly what acts of subversion this French Defense tache was engaged in there in Burkina Fasso, the indicators are not clear, they are not in public view, most times they are. Based on intelligence reports that have been actioned upon and been sent to uh the government, dont forget that burkina faso like other french speaking african countries are continually escalating their antifrench sentiments and apart from ordering the french representatives to leave their countries, there is a chance that from what the signals theyve gotten, from the conversations theyve had. From the interactions that the ambassador has with people within the country and outside the country, there is a chance that burkina faso feels that the mr. Emmanuel has to leave the country, so there may not not be indicators that are in public view, but i suspect strongly that there are intelligence reports or signals to the to the government of bukina faso that suggests that emmanuel paska needs to leave the. During frances military presence, burkina faso turned into one of the poorest countries in the world, amit a growing presence of terrorist groups affiliated to alqaeda and daesh, which killed thousands of people and triggered a humanitarians in the country. The government of burki fasso now says it will collaborate with new partners to restore security. This might have been informed by the activities of of french uh troops across the region it is expected that considering the heightened terror attacks in surgency in the in the sahil, the support from the french troops was meant to subdue the terrorist, reduced their impact and their activities across the region, however what we have seen over time is that there has been rising and worsening security situation in the sahil, so while we may not be sure of friends, of frances obstrusive or diversionary activities within the region, whats argument is that the prince of france or the french troops in you, the region has not improved the the security situation. Burkina faso is rich in mineral resources, in fact it is one the leading producers of gold in africa. French companies have looted these resources for decades. And kept the economy of france alive while the people of Burkina Fasso languish in poverty. Masses in this country came out strongly to express support for the new leader Ibrahim Traore after he housed france back paul henry sandago damiba. Damiba is pro french. He has destroyed burkina faso, but thanks to god, we have a great strong man like. Now next question to mr. Now will bokina benefit from their countrys wealth under the current government . Which is popular due to its antifrance sentiments . The fact that you know the french have been uh, theyve given a hole shoulder to the french and they are seeking alternative partner uh suggest that there can be better you know negotiations of you know Bilateral Agreement or trade agreements to ensure that they have better pricing for their products and not the prices that the you know french were used to uh before now, again, just the fact that the french presence in you, in these countries have continue to emirish you know the citizenry, it its not just about the french, but the quality of leaders that engage the french, because again as it is said, in africa, nobody can cut your hair without your approval, so where are the leaders in these countries when the you know when french investors for example uh give them the short hand of of you know the negotiations. Burkina fasso is among african nations that have recently turned to other foreign powers such as russia and china to combat terrorism on their soil an effort to find a longlasting solution to security challenges. The people have declared support for the countrys collaboration with russia to restore security le peuple burkinabe demande le soutien de la russie pour laccompagner dans cette lute acharnee qui nous impose, a besoin de tous les collaborateurs, si la russie peut faire notre affaire, elle est la bienvenue. Solution to security challenges. There is new direction towards the east, that is china and russia, it is expected that the russians and the china, chinese uh troops that are coming in for example will look at alternative ways of dealing with the security problem. What it . Means is there has been solutions or ideas that were being used in the past that has not been as effective as it is expected, those strategies will be reviewed, hopefully, those strategies will be looked at and an alternative strategy will be brought about, that is my expectation, beyond that you will have realized that the french, sorry the the russians and the the chinese do not interfere. In the uh governance process, they do not interfere in the politics of the nation as compared to western powers that would want to dictate certain things to you know the country considering the fact that they are the colonial masters of of burkina faso and other francophone countries. Burkinafaso, mali and niger recently announced the formation over military alliance to counter external aggression. Mallys foreign minister elaborates here. Parties. Will be considered aggression against the others and it will entail a duty of assistance and relief on the