Mali: Former Prime Minister Choguel Maïga Imprisoned
The former civilian Prime Minister of Mali, Choguel Kokalla Maïga, was indicted on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, for “damaging public goods, forgery and use of forgery”. After a week in custody, he was brought before the investigative chamber of the Supreme Court which decided to place him under a committal order. No date has been set for his trial yet.
SUMMARY
Arrested on August 12, 2025, Choguel Maïga spent seven days in custody at the Economic and Financial Hub of Bamako before being heard by the justice system. According to the prosecutor general’s indictment, he will have to answer for alleged misappropriation of public goods. His lawyer, Maître Cheick Oumar Konaré, asserts that he remains “serene” and that he “believes in justice”.
A breakaway from the junta since 2024
Appointed Prime Minister in 2021 by Colonel Assimi Goïta, Choguel Kokalla Maïga was dismissed in November 2024 after denouncing the military’s grip on the transition.
He had publicly complained about being excluded from decision-making, particularly on the extension of the general’s power despite their initial commitment to return authority to elected civilians.
In February 2025, he confirmed the “final break” between his coalition of the June 5 Movement – Rally of Patriotic Forces (M5-RFP) and the junta, denouncing “extrajudicial arrests and detentions” targeting his supporters. Audits conducted in January 2025 accused him of financial malpractice, accusations he has always rejected.
Collaborators also targeted
His arrest came in a context of security and political tensions, marked by the arrest of about fifty military personnel accused of plotting against the regime, including two generals.
In the same case, eight former collaborators of the ex-Prime Minister were also taken into custody, among them his former chief of staff, Issiaka Ahmadou Singaré, and three former administrative and financial directors of the Prime Ministry.
However, in a statement released on social networks, Choguel Maïga’s entourage indicated that Professor Singaré, aged 80, is no longer detained. The former government chief, for his part, welcomed this decision, stating that “a politician must expect anything, including imprisonment and death”.
A weakened opposition in the face of the junta
Since his removal, Choguel Kokalla Maïga has become an opposition figure to the junta, which has stepped up coercive measures against its opponents including dissolving organizations, restricting public freedoms, and initiating legal proceedings.
The political climate is all the more tense as the country is plunged into a two-fold crisis, security, with the activism of jihadist groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, and economic, exacerbated by diplomatic isolation.
The military in power, who have distanced themselves from Western partners, have strengthened their alliance with Russia in the name of sovereignty, while repressing the opposition. The trial of Choguel Maïga, if set, should constitute a new test for the independence of Malian justice.
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