By Mohamed AG Ahmedou, journalist and Malian civil society activist.
For three years, a deep divide has run through Mali: can one defend the country while refusing to acknowledge the violence committed against some of its communities? Among supporters of the junta, the dominant narrative asserts that criticizing the army or its Russian allies amounts to “betraying the nation.” This Manichean narrative obscures the documented realities of violence, marginalization, and exclusion experienced by the Tuareg, Arab, Songhai, and Fulani communities in the northern and central regions.
However, many intellectuals remind us, defending Mali is not about defending a military regime: it is about defending the possibility of peaceful coexistence among all the components of a complex country, shaped by multiple histories.
A postcolonial state built on exclusion:
Independent Mali has never managed to overcome certain colonial legacies. Its borders, drawn by France, brought together populations with very different identities, lifestyles, and cultural identities. But the political system established after 1960 was often structured around southern elites, effectively marginalizing northern communities.
For the inhabitants of the regions of Timbuktu, Gao, Kidal, Ménaka, and Taoudeni, the “Northern Question” is not a matter of identity politics: it is a long-standing demand for justice, political representation, and the right to respect. Since independence, their attempts at inclusion have often been repressed, fueling frustrations that have created openings for forms of radicalization.
Drones, mercenaries, and the brutalization of the territory:
Since Assimi Goïta came to power, the security strategy has shifted toward a logic of punitive violence. The use of Turkish armed drones, the support of Russian mercenaries from Wagner and later Afrika Korps, and the disappearance of any judicial checks and balances facilitate what several NGOs describe as systemic violence against nomadic civilian populations.
In the northern plains, entire encampments have been targeted by airstrikes. Enforced disappearances, summary executions, and targeted ethnic cleansing have been documented. Tuareg, Arab, Fulani, and Songhai communities are the first to be affected.
The junta refuses to acknowledge this reality. But, experts warn, a state that denies the suffering of a segment of its population is heading toward its own fragmentation.
Cultural Hegemony: A Dangerous Discourse:
Some supporters of the junta argue that Mali should align itself with a Mandingocentric vision of the country. Such a conception, several historians explain, reproduces the colonial mechanisms of domination, this time applied by Malians against other Malians.
A country is not governed by the hegemony of one community over others, but by a social contract founded on justice and equality.
Tiambel Guimbayara: From Democratic Activist to Zealous Junta Protagonist
In this polarized landscape, Tiambel Guimbayara’s trajectory reveals the current political realignments. Born in Dilly, in the Nara region, he began his career at Radio Kayira, an iconic media outlet founded by Dr. Oumar Mariko, a leading figure in the democratic struggle in Mali.
In his early days, Guimbayara embodied a Malian youth committed to freedom of the press and pluralism. But over the years, his stance has radically changed.
In France, where he has been in charge of communications for the Malian delegation to UNESCO since 2015, he has become one of the junta’s most ardent spokespeople.
Malian activists in France claim that he regularly sends them intimidating messages when they speak out against the violence or abuses committed by Assimi Goïta’s authoritarian military junta or by Russian mercenaries.
According to confidential sources who have known him, he has maintained close, unofficial ties with Malian intelligence services for several years. No public evidence substantiates these ties, and he has never acknowledged them. However, these suspicions persist, fueled by his activism and his gradual alignment with the official narrative.
At the beginning of the military transition, he openly criticized Assimi Goïta. It was only from late 2023 onward that he established himself as a staunch defender of the junta, adopting a rhetoric in which any criticism is equated with treason.
His repeated phrases, “Mali is our shared destiny” and “Let everyone stay in their place,” became his signature.
The major French television networks, which still frequently invited him, stopped inviting him as his rhetoric became increasingly radical.
Anti-French sentiment as a political strategy:
The junta has also made France a convenient internal enemy: expelling diplomats, forcing the withdrawal of Operation Barkhane, and launching disinformation campaigns. Yet, it was France that prevented the fall of Bamako in 2013, and whose soldiers have died in Mali.
The paradox reaches its peak when, in Paris, some pro-junta demonstrators living and working in France openly insult the French state, calling it a “terrorist state.”
The question of reciprocity:
Faced with the intimidation of activists protected by French law, some legal experts and civil society actors are advocating for the strict application of diplomatic reciprocity: that an individual suspected of acting for a foreign junta cannot carry out hostile activities on French territory without consequences.
A country in danger of fracturing:
Mali is currently facing a major risk: losing its unity by failing to recognize the dignity of all its communities.
Peace will not come from drones, mercenaries, or narratives of hegemony, but from a renewed social contract.
A stable Mali will be a Mali: that acknowledges the violence committed against all its communities; that respects the country’s cultural and historical diversity; that protects civil liberties; that rejects all forms of internal domination.
Because defending Mali means defending all Malians, without distinction.
Mohamed AG Ahmedou
18-11-25