Former Malian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maïga has been placed in custody by the Supreme Court’s investigating chamber following a week in police detention, in connection with alleged attacks on public property and financial irregularities.
The 2025 investigation, based on a report from the Office of the Auditor General (BVG), scrutinizes Maïga’s management of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Universal Access Fund Management Agency (AGEFAU) between 2020 and 2023, and the Malian Telecommunications and Postal Regulatory Authority (AMRTP). Authorities allege forgery, use of forged documents, and embezzlement of public funds.
“The file reports financial irregularities deemed serious, including unjustified expenditure of several billion CFA francs: granting of loans deemed dubious, undocumented telephone subscriptions, excessive mission expenses, contracts awarded without transparency and other management anomalies,” judicial sources said.
Maïga first responded to a summons on August 1, was questioned again on August 12, and remained in police custody until his appearance before the investigating chamber on August 19, which confirmed his detention.
In a statement, his lawyer, Cheick Oumar Konaré, said the former Prime Minister “welcomed the decision with serenity,” adding that “a politician must expect anything, including prison and death.” He noted relief that Maïga’s former chief of staff, Professor Issiaka Ahmadou Singaré, 80, is also being prosecuted but has not been detained.
Maïga, a prominent figure in the June 5 Movement – Rally of Patriotic Forces (M5-RFP), was appointed Prime Minister during the transitional government in 2021.
He was dismissed in November 2024 after publicly opposing the military’s extension of the transitional period.
The Supreme Court’s investigating chamber will continue examining the case, though no hearing date has yet been set. The detention of a former head of government marks a significant development in Mali’s ongoing efforts to investigate alleged financial mismanagement within transitional institutions.
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