After Niger and Burkina Faso, the Malian junta proceeded this Tuesday, December 24 in Bamako to change the names of streets and monuments, several of which evoked the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) or the former French colonial power.
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With our correspondent in the region, Serge Daniel
The decision was released last week, Wednesday December 18, in a decree from the head of the Malian junta. In Bamako, the ceremony officially changing the name of streets and monuments took place this Tuesday, December 24 on the former Africa-France summit square, renamed Place de la Confédération des Études du Sahel, after the name of the new alliance formed by the MaliNiger and Burkina Faso. These three countries are led by military regimes resulting from coups d’état.
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Speaking in front of officials and guests, the Malian Prime Minister, General Abdoulaye Maïgarecalled that it was an act of sovereignty that his country was taking, once again. And as if to reconfirm the break with the regional organization and Mali’s anchoring within the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), the famous avenue of Bamako, Avenue de la Cédéao, changes its name and becomes the avenue de l’AES.
Figures from the French colonial administration are also paying the price for the decision of the Malian authorities. Louis Faidherbe and Archinard streets have been renamed and now bear the names of great Malian figures.
In total, in the capital, nearly twenty-five places, boulevards, avenues, streets, public squares, public establishments, have been renamed.
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