4 June 1915 - 16 May 1977

“If all of us here present are truly animated by the ardent desire to achieve African unity, we must take Africa as it is, and we must renounce any territorial claims, if we do not wish to introduce what we might call black imperialism in Africa.”

Modibo Keïta was a political leader who was at the forefront in the fight for independence for French Sudan and became its first president as it became the Republic of Mali. Keïta was a stern advocate for African socialism and stood firmly for the independence of all African countries and for there to be peace between them all. He worked towards building unity by tearing down the artificial borders placed by colonialists that separated Africans.

Early Life and Education

Modibo Keïta was born on the 4th of June 1915 in the capital of French Sudan, Bamako. His family was a Muslim one and they believed that they descended from the Keita dynasty which was the founder of the Mali Empire. Keïta had done his primary level education in his home city, where he gained the nickname Modo, and after this, he was sent to Dakar, Senegal to gain higher education. Whilst in Senegal, Keïta was an exceptional student as he finished at the top of his class. When he completed his education, he returned to French Sudan as a teacher. In 1936 he started working as a teacher in Bamako, Sikasso, and Tombouctou.

Early Politics

As a teacher, Keïta was drawn into the struggle of African people as they fought for independence from colonial powers, especially his own country. He was involved in multiple associations such as being the coordinator of an art and theatre group in 1937. Keïta, along with other teachers, founded the Union of French West African Teachers. This group later joined the Communist Study Groups (GEC) cell which was based in Bamako. In 1943, Keïta was arrested for 3 weeks, in Paris, after he created a magazine, L’oeil de Kénédougou, which criticised the colonial rule. Keïta was a candidate for the Constituent Assembly of the French Fourth Republic which was supported by the GEC and Sudanese Democratic Party.

Politics and Presidency

In 1946 the African Democratic Rally (RDA) in Bamako by representatives from French Africa. In that same year, the Sudanese Union combined with them to form the US- RDA. Keïta was a Secretary-General in French Sudan, whilst Félix Houphouët-Boigny led it. He was elected as general councilor of French Sudan two years later.

From 1956 to 1958 he was the deputy in the French National Assembly and was its first African vice president and became the mayor of Bamako. Sudan became a self-governing state within the African French community and was renamed the Sudanese Republic. The next year, the republic came together with Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), Senegal, and Dahomey and they formed the Mali Federation.

Keïta along with the president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, and the president of Guinea, Sékou Touré, formed the Union of the States of Western Africa. Keïta had an important part to play in the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963 as he had a role in drafting its charter.

The Sudanese Republic eventually declared independence from the Federation peacefully on the 20th of July 1960, becoming the Republic of Mali with Keïta becoming its first president in September of the same year. Keïta did follow socialism and implemented it as he became president. In June 1961, he visited the United Kingdom where he met Queen Elizabeth II who invested him as an honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George. Keïta also formed a bond with the United States of America and President John F. Kennedy although they were initially concerned with socialist views.

Politically, Keïta implemented a one-party state and stifled any opposition to him through imprisonment. In the first post-independence elections in 1964, only US-RDA candidates were up for the vote. Keïta was expectedly re-elected for a second term in office. This would only last until the 19th of November 1968 because General Moussa Traoré overthrew him in a coup d’état and imprisoned him.

Keïta was transferred back to his home city and the capital, Bamako, in 1977, however, he died still a prisoner on 16 May 1977.

References

Lossert, M. (2020) 5 Quotes of Modibo Keita, First President of Mali - Motivation Africa, Motivation Africa. Available at: https://www.motivation.africa/5-quotes-of- modibo-keita-first-president-of-mali.html (Accessed: 14 June 2021).

Modibo Keita | Encyclopedia.com (2021). Available at: https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/african-history-biographies/modibo- keita (Accessed: 14 June 2021).

Modibo Keita | president of Mali (2021). Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Modibo-Keita (Accessed: 14 June 2021).

Modibo Keita (2021). Available at: https://biography.yourdictionary.com/modibo-keita (Accessed: 14 June 2021).

Modibo Keita (2021). Available at: https://www.blackfacts.com/fact/modibo-keita (Accessed: 18 June 2021).

President Modibo Keita of Mali is deposed by the army | South African History Online (2021). Available at: https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/president- modibo-keita-mali-deposed-army (Accessed: 14 June 2021).

2021. [online] Available at: http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/national- orders/recipient/modibo-keita-1915-1977 (Accessed: 14 June 2021).