Mali's 2020 military coup ended nearly six years of uninterrupted democratic governance in West Africa and marked the country's second coup in under a decade.
Key Facts
- Date of coup
- 18 August 2020
- President deposed
- Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta
- Previous Malian coup
- 2012 coup d'état
- Mutiny origin
- Soundiata military base, Kati
- W. Africa democratic streak broken
- ~6 years (since 2014 Burkina Faso uprising)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Mali had experienced mounting political instability and protests against President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta's government. Elements of the Malian Armed Forces grew dissatisfied and organized a mutiny, seizing weapons from the Soundiata military base armory in Kati and arresting senior officers before moving on the capital.
On 18 August 2020, mutinous soldiers stormed the Soundiata base in Kati, distributed arms, and advanced on Bamako with tanks and armoured vehicles. They detained President Keïta and other senior government officials, compelling Keïta to announce his resignation and the dissolution of the government in a televised address.
The coup ended President Keïta's government and became Mali's second military takeover in less than a decade, following the 2012 coup. It also broke nearly six years of uninterrupted democratic transfers of power across West Africa, a period of stability during which ECOWAS had peacefully resolved the 2016–2017 Gambian constitutional crisis.