CSDM President Chérif Mohamed Haïdara

AFRICA Mali Diaspora Seeks Larger Role in Mali Peace Process OE Watch Commentary: For years and even decades, Malians abroad have played an outsized role in the economics of the country. A strong remittance economy is one of the pillars of relative economic stability in Mali. Families who have members living outside the country call on their relatives to help in times of drought and famine. The diaspora has built schools and health clinics across the country. Now, the Malian diaspora is seeking a larger role in the peace process in Mali to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict consuming the central and northern regions of the country. The accompanying article from Actu Global, a website run by the Insitut National de Prévoyance Sociale (National Social Insurance Institute- INPS), discusses this effort. Elements within the diaspora, specifically the High Council of Monument de la Paix in the administrative district of Bamako. the Malian Diaspora (CSDM) based in France, are getting involved Source: Photo by Dodge Billingsley in the task of reconciliation and path to peace. In its quest, CSDM is enlisting another powerful, yet geographically diverse ally within Mali; the traditional village and tribal leaders including village and area chiefs and Qadis (judges or magistrates on local Sharia courts). Together, the CSDM and the local leaders hope to advance the country’s peace process. The first meeting including the CSDM and local power brokers recently took place in the city of Askia, and according to public statements from the current director of the CSDM, Chérif Mohamed Haïdara, it was a good first step. Haïdara said Mali’s situation was dire but not any more dire than the recent past in Ivory Coast, or Burkina Faso, where “social problems are managed by the Mauro-Naba, who is above all.” He touts both Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso as political successes brought about through local traditional governance. It is difficult to say if this recent meeting of representatives from the diaspora and the traditional local leaders in Askia will have any lasting impact or lead to other meetings across the central and northern regions of the country where the conflict is acute. However, the power of the diaspora, and the power of the local traditional leadership is generally not disputed. In fact, historically, the federal government has been considered by some to be an artificial layer created or imposed from a colonial past. While Malians recognize the government, there is a tacit understanding that the day-to-day stability and rule of law, at the local level, is a function of traditional leaders. During every election cycle, candidates make the rounds among the traditional leadership to get their support. End OE Watch Commentary (Billingsley) “It is important for each of us to embrace the question of those who represent us in a constant, cultural way, to help our customary chiefs, our cantons, our imams, our scholars, because they are the first officials. So we in the diaspora are with you, we support your approach to peace and national reconciliation and we will pass, inshalla, the message ... because we know that without you, we will never have a united Mali, indivisible and in peace. It’s impossible!” -- CSDM President Chérif Mohamed Haïdara Source: “Le Président Du CSDM, Chérif Mohamed Haïdara, Aux Legitimites Traditionnelles De Gao: ‘Sans Vous, On N’aura Jamais Un Mali Uni, Indivisible Et En Paix’ (The President of the CSDM, Cherry Mohamed Haidara, to the Traditional Legitimates of Gao: ‘Without You, One Will Never Have a United Mali, Indivisible and in peace’),” Actu Globe, Institut National de Prévoynce Sociale, 2 August 2019. http:// actu-globe.com/2019/08/02/le-president-du-csdm-cherif-mohamed-haidara-aux-legitimites-traditionnelles-de-gao-sans-vous-on-naura-jamais- un-mali-uni-indivisible-et-en-paix/ Visibly seduced by the success of this first meeting, CSDM President Chérif Mohamed Haïdara is now advocating for the rehabilitation of traditional leaders in Mali. “In Burkina-Faso, social problems are managed by the Mauro-Naba who is above all,” says President Haidara at the microphone of our colleagues Africable television. Before continuing: “With a fratricidal war, Côte d’Ivoire, which was torn, almost disappeared from the map. But it has been reconstituted today and has almost become the economic heart of West Africa. This is because the Ivorian government relied on traditional leaders to convey the messages of peace and reconciliation. CSDM President Chérif Mohamed Haïdara: “It is important for each of us to embrace the question of those who represent us in a constant, cultural way, to help our customary chiefs, our cantons, our imams, our scholars, because they are the first officials. So we in the diaspora are with you, we support your approach to peace and national reconciliation and we will pass, inshalla, the message ... because we know that without you, we will never have a united Mali, indivisible and in peace. It’s impossible!” OE Watch | September 2019 60.

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