Malian Afropop singer Salif Keita named advisor to junta chief

Salif Keita, a popularly hailed Malian Afropop musician known as the “Golden Voice of Africa,” has been named a special advisor to the head of Mali’s military junta.

This was announced in a decree signed by Colonel Assimi Goita, the military leader who deposed the country’s elected president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, in 2020.

The transitional president appointed five new special advisors in a decree dated August 11 and published on August 14, 2023.

The decree does not specify the singer’s new role.

The 73-year-old singer has been a vocal supporter of the junta, endorsing its narrative of national sovereignty and calling for the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers from Mali.

Recall that Salif Keita had, in a letter some days ago, resigned from an assembly set up by the military in power since 2020 to act as a legislative body.

He gave no reason for his letter of resignation, stating that he would always remain “the undisputed friend of my country’s soldiers.”