Mali Prime Minister Maiga, govt quit after Ogossagou massacre

The prime minister of Mali, Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga and his government have resigned four weeks after a massacre of almost 160 Fulani herders by an ethnic vigilante group shocked the nation.

Aljazeera revealed that the March 23 killings by suspected hunters from the Dogon community on Ogossagou, a village in central Mali inhabited by rival Fulani herders, were bloody even by the recent standards of Mali’s ever-worsening violence.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keitawho who accepted the resignation on Thursday gave no reason for the departure of the Prime Minister.

“A prime minister will be named very soon and a new government will be put in place after consultations with all political forces” from both the ruling and opposition sides, the statement from Keita’s office said.

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However, Malian authorities have detained five people suspected of taking part in the massacre. But they have not yet succeeded in disarming the group that many believe organised it, despite pledges by Maiga and Keita to do so.

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