Source : Sahel weather

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Food insecurity continues to weigh heavily on certain Sahelian populations, as can be seen in Mali. This scourge, which threatens more than a million people according to the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), fuels the motivation of armed groups who attack villages in the south (Orokoutan, Tégrou and Toukoto) to loot livestock, among other things. Faced with this situation, the President of the Transition, Colonel Assimi Goïta, visited the Sikasso region on June 22, accompanied by Minister Commissioner Redouwane Ag Med Ali, and announced the launch of the National Food Insecurity Response Plan aimed at supporting vulnerable populations, improving agricultural production and strengthening local resilience to food crises. Colonel Goïta also took the opportunity to lay the foundation stone for the University of Sikasso, a project aimed at the intellectual and economic growth of Sikasso.

Faced with the multiple challenges facing the country, the opposition has not remained inert. Indeed, the Synergie d'action pour le Mali (Action Synergy for Mali) organized a demonstration in the Malian capital, Bamako, on June 7 to denounce the high cost of living, the lack of electricity, and the management of the country by the transitional authorities since 2020. Journalist Yeri Bocoum, who had covered the event, was abducted the following day, despite having been "advised" not to cover the demonstration, which had been banned by the authorities. Similarly, the provisional detention of Hamadoun Bah has become a major political issue in Mali, bringing banking activity to a standstill for the rest of the week.

The series of arrests continued on June 20 with that of 11 Malian opponents of the transitional authorities, including presidents of political parties and movements, all signatories of a declaration published on March 31,calling for the holding of presidential elections as soon as possible, justified by a decree signed in March 2024, suspending political activities. The decree, which has been challenged before the Supreme Court, has contributed to the continuing high level of tension in the country, prompting a number of political players to denounce a biased reading of the law.

In the same vein, the video intervention by the Prime Minister, whose capacity for action vis-à-vis the military is said to be very limited, was highlighted by local observers, who noted his ambiguous and confused position. On the one hand, he aligned himself with a text openly critical of the junta, while on the other, he called for support for the head of the transition, Colonel Assimi Goïta, while denouncing attempts to pit him against the military.

Finally, the Direction de l'information et des relations publiques des armées (Dirpa), announced that several terrorists had been neutralized during operations carried out in the Sikasso region, around the Niamazana forest in the Kignan cercle and in the Tiere locality. During his visit to Ouagadougou on June 26, Colonel Assimi Goïta affirmed that Mali's security situation was under control, and that the upcoming objectives were to secure the referendum and the inter-Malian dialogue. Earlier, during his visit to Sikasso, the head of the junta made similar remarks, this time directly accusing France of seeking to destabilize the country's economy by printing counterfeit FCFA bills. The colonel added that Mali must now face three types of terrorism: armed terrorism, media terrorism (lies and fake news) "to pit us against each other" and economic terrorism."