Mali’s former president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is dead.
Keita led the West African country from 2013 until he was ousted in a coup in 2020.
According to family source, the former president died on Sunday at 76yrs.
“President IBK died this morning at 0900 GMT in his home” in Bamako, a family said, using the ex-leader’s initials, with several other family members confirming his passing.
The cause of Keita’s death was not given.
Keita was two years into his second five-year term when he was toppled by the military in 2020.
In the weeks before the coup, he had been struggling with protests fuelled by his handling of a jihadist insurgency and failure to turn around Mali’s floundering economy.
Keita was forced out of office on August 18, 2020 by young military officers who staged an uprising at a base near Bamako before heading into the city, where they seized Keita and other leaders.
Under pressure from the West African bloc ECOWAS, the junta that emerged from the rebellion released Keita on August 27 and returned him to his residence in Bamako, under surveillance.
He suffered a mini-stroke the following month, and was sent to United Arab Emirates for treatment.