Malick Diaw: Three little-known facts about ‘the 25-year-old colonel’ who brought down Mali’s gov’t

Mali’s military junta that upended the government of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has been given until September 15 by West Africa’s intergovernmental authority to appoint a president and transitional team who will oversee the process towards the re-establishment of democracy.

The 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met on Monday in Niger capital Niamey, and on the bill was deliberation on restoring multiparty democracy in Mali.

ECOWAS Commission head Jean-Claude Kassi Brou was quoted saying: “With regard to the situation in Mali, the conference reaffirms its determination to ensure a rapid return to constitutional order in this country, with a political transition led by a civilian President and Prime Minister for a period of 12 months.”

But in all of this, the world knows very little about the colonel who, believed to be 25 years old, led the efforts against a democratically-elected government. A basic understanding of Malick Diaw’s background could help to shape what Africa and the world can expect from the junta going forward.

Admittedly, not much is even available in the way of Colonel Diaw’s biography but Face2face Africa managed to confirm three facts about the young military impresario.