Meet Capt. Sanogo, the man behind Mali military coup

The man behind the coup. Though very little is known about him, Capt. Sanogo showed some bravery and led a coup that ousted President Amadou Toumani Tuore last week.

Little is known of Mali’s junta leader, Captain Amadou Sanogo, but some information has been trickling in.His father is from Fourou, a village located in Kadiolo region in the south, bordering Côte d’Ivoire. Captain Sanogo is a kinsman of Gen. Kafougouna Koné, a former Interior and Local District minister, who was among the first members of deposed Ali Toumani Toure’s Cabinet to be arrested after the putsch. 

Available information indicates Capt. Sanogo was born in 1972 in the town of Ségou in central Mali. Reportedly, his father is a doctor who had settled in the town. The Captain is married and has three children. Part of his military training was in the US at the Marine training base of Quantico. Back home, he was an English language trainer and taught at EcoleMilitaire Inter-Armes (EMIA) in Koulikoro, a city located 60km from Bamako. EMIA prepares elements of the military for grade officer. The army has previously used Capt. Sanogo as a translator during seminars and conferences.

He has also attended international military seminars on counter-terrorism.

Political parties

An officer who used to work with him said Capt. Sanogo was recruited into the army at the grade of Master Sergeant. It is said he impressed his companions as a good spokesperson, who was ready to defend their rights. Owing to these skills and as the only captain who took part in the revolt, he was chosen by the soldiers to lead the Comité National pour le Redressement de la Démocratie et la Restauration de l’Etat (CNRDR). Capt. Sanogo was quite popular in the Kati military base near Bamako where he was serving. The community around the base also reportedly knew him well.

Army relations

However, the extent of his relationships with senior officers – generals and colonels – was not clear.
The CNRDR was running the country from the Kati base, where the coup was hatched. The Presidential Palace of Koulouba and the government buildings housing ministries have been damaged in the upheaval of the coup. In his very first encounters with journalists, Capt. Sanogo said he planned to build a more professional army and improve the welfare conditions of the armed forces.

Plans
However, his plans for the civilian population remained vague, other than promising a quick handover of power once the fight with the Tuareg in the north had been sorted out.The biggest challenge he faces is to win the support of the political parties.

Renegade soldiers angry at the government’s inability to contain the two-month-old Tuareg rebellion, which has overwhelmed a poorly-equipped military, seized power a week ago, prompting stiff rebukes from Mali’s foreign allies.

Fighting Continues.

Tuareg separatist rebels battled the army for a key town in northern Mali on Thursday as a bid by west African leaders to negotiate a return to democratic rule with the junta fell apart before it began. The Tuareg fighters attacked the key town of Kidal as a crisis deepened 1,000 kilometres to the south in Bamako where supporters and critics of the junta clashed during rival rallies. A crack team of presidents from Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Benin and Niger were on their way to Bamako to meet the putschists and wrest a deal on a return to constitutional order when they turned around mid-air.