Bah Ndaw

Bah Ndaw (also spelled N'Daw, N'Dah, and N'Daou; born 23 August 1950) is a Malian military officer and politician. He has been president of Mali since 25 September 2020. Between May 2014 and January 2015 he was Minister of Defense.

Bah Ndaw
President of Mali
Interim
Assumed office
25 September 2020
Prime MinisterMoctar Ouane
Vice PresidentAssimi Goïta
Preceded byAssimi Goïta (Chairman of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People of Mali)
Minister of Defense
In office
28 May 2014 – January 2015
PresidentIbrahim Boubacar Keïta
Prime MinisterMoussa Mara
Preceded bySoumeylou Boubèye Maïga
Personal details
Born (1950-08-23) 23 August 1950
San, French Sudan (now Mali)
Military career
AllegianceMali
Malian Air Force
Years of service1973–2012
RankColonel
Alma materÉcole Militaire Interarmes, Koulikoro
École de guerre[1]

Early life and education

Ndaw was born on 23 August 1950 in San, Mali.[2] He joined the Malian Armed Forces as a volunteer in 1973 and graduated from the l’École militaire interarmes (EMIA) in Koulikoro the same year. In 1974 he was sent to the Soviet Union to receive helicopter training.[2]

Military and political career

In 1977 Ndaw became part of the Malian Air Force.[2] At one point Ndaw served as an aide-de-camp to Malian President Moussa Traoré.[3] He resigned from this position in 1990 in protest of interference by Traoré's wife with government affairs.[1] Under President Alpha Oumar Konaré Ndaw served as deputy chief of staff of the Malian Air Force between 1992 and 2002.[1] In 1994 he graduated from the École de guerre in Paris, France.[2] In 2003 Ndaw became chief of staff of the Malian Air Force.[1] During his career he also served as deputy chief of staff of the Malian National Guard.[2] From 2008 until his retirement in 2012 he was head of the Bureau for veteran's affairs and war victims.[4] He retired with the rank of Colonel-major.[5]

On 28 May 2014 Ndaw succeeded Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga as Minister of Defense under President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta.[5][6][7] During his time in office he signed a defense agreement with France. He also worked on a reorganization of the Malian Armed Forces.[5] When Prime Minister Modibo Keita took over from Moussa Mara in January 2015 Ndaw left office, supposedly for disagreeing with some conditions regarding the integration of deserting former combatants stipulated by the Treaty of Algiers (2015).[1][5]

On 21 September 2020, after the coup d'état a few weeks before, Ndaw was named president by a group of 17 electors. Assimi Goïta was appointed vice president. Their interim government is scheduled to preside over a period of 18 months after the 2020 Malian coup d'état.[3] A spokesperson for political-religious leader Mahmoud Dicko praised his nomination as president.[3] Leaders of the M5-RFP, active since the 2020 Malian protests, also signalled support.[6] Ndaw was inaugurated on 25 September.[8]

After officially assuming office Ndaw stated he would fight against corruption, electoral fraud and to respect previously made international agreements.[8] He also indicated that he would continue the fight against terrorist forces and prevent abuse of civilians by the Malian armed forces.[9][10] Following Ndaw's inauguration, Jean-Claude Brou, the President of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, stated that ECOWAS would only lift the embargo against Mali if a civilian Prime Minister was appointed by Ndaw.[8][10] On 27 September Ndaw named Moctar Ouane as Prime Minister.[11]

Awards and honors

He is an officer of the National Order of Mali.[4] Ndaw is a recipient of the Medal of Military Merit as well as the Medal of National Merit.[4]

See also
  •  Mali portal

References
  1. Diallo, Aïssatou (25 September 2020). "Mali: Who is Bah N'dah, the new transitional president?". The Africa Report. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  2. "Mali : Bah N'DAOU (70 ans) est le nouveau chef de la transition, Assimi Goita, vice président" (in French). Mali.actu.net. 21 September 2020. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020.
  3. "Bah Ndaw named Mali's interim president, colonel named VP". Al Jazeera. 21 September 2020. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020.
  4. "Bah N'Daw alias "le grand": qui est le président de la transition du Mali" (in French). BBC News. 21 September 2020. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020.
  5. "Mali : Qui est Bah Ndaw, le président de transition ?" (in French). La Tribune Afrique. 21 September 2020. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020.
  6. Myers, Paul (21 September 2020). "Ex-Malian defence minister named interim president, junta leader as deputy". RFI. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020.
  7. "Pierre Buyoya pays a courtesy call to the newly appointed Malian Defence Minister, Mr Bah Ndao". African Union. 6 June 2014. Archived from the original on 3 November 2017.
  8. Jones, Mayeni (25 September 2020). "Mali coup: Bah Ndaw sworn in as civilian leader". BBC News. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020.
  9. "Mali swears in interim president Bah Ndaw to lead transitional government". France 24. 25 September 2020. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020.
  10. Diallo, Tiemoko (25 September 2020). "Retired colonel sworn in as Mali interim president after coup". Reuters. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  11. "Former Mali Foreign Minister Moctar Ouane named transitional PM". Al Jazeera. 27 September 2020. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020.
Political offices
Preceded by
Assimi Goïta
as Chairman of the National Committee for the Salvation of the People of Mali		 President of Mali
Interim
2020–present		 Incumbent
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