Mali Election: Is it the right time?
Mali is expected to go to the polls on July 28, at a time when the general security of the country does not merit the organisation of a credible election.
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In other words, it will take greater efforts and sacrifice by the authorities to organise a proper poll in a country which is three or four times the size of Ghana and is at the moment, fraught with Islamic insurgency and Tuareg separatists rebels resistance.
One does not appreciate why the authorities in Mali are rushing to organise a poll when even the masses of the people still dread the comeback of the Islamists who have been driven to the north but not totally vanquished.
The issue is that the French forces are preparing to leave the country against the background of soaring operations debt in their attempt to whip from the Malian soil, the Al-Qaeda linked rebels and it will be extremely difficult for the skeletal African force to fill the void.
The generosity of the French government cannot continue into the foreseeable months since the few months that its forces had operated in Mali, had consumed more than 200 million pounds of French tax payers’ money.
In addition, the French government is doing so against financial constraints back home . Businesses are becoming insolvent due to the credit crunch while the unemployment rate keeps soaring and for which the government cannot afford to continue with its foreign adventurism.
Moreover, the French government entered Mali to drive away the insurgents in anticipation that the world community will lend massive assistance towards the prosecution of its agenda in that country.
But, it is sad to note that the world community had paid scant attention to the Malian issue by way of committing insignificant resources to support the cause.
The only assistance they could offer was to support in the transporting of the African forces to Mali to support the French forces on the ground.
The African force itself which are in the few hundreds lack the requisite equipment and logistics to confront the rebels who are heavily armed and are well trained to operate in the rugged Malian terrain.
In addition, the Malian military personnel are poorly remunerated and armed, and for that matter there is lack of motivation among them to put their lives on the line in their fight against the insurgents.
The military also has a divided attention in the sense that while one faction is only interested in nipping in the bud the threat of the Islamist insurgents, the other is deeply involved in national politics.
The masses of the people are dreading the pull out of the French forces since it will create a vacuum for the comeback of the Islamists who operated the puritan form of Sharia when it ran riot in some parts of the country.
The Islamic insurgents still pose a threat to the security of the country and the situation on the ground in the country in that while some of its members melted amongst the people, others fled to the mountainous regions of the country.
There is therefore, the likelihood that there would be some kind of interaction and collaboration between those in the urban centres and others operating in the mountainous regions.
Definitely, they will be mapping out varied strategies to either put fear into the populace to prevent them assembling at the polling centres to vote or organising their men and women to carry out suicide attacks at the centres .
The question is, will the Malian authorities be able to protect personnel of the Election Commission, vehicles conveying voting materials across the country , and the vast majority of the people who will be voting on July 28?
Vehicles transporting election materials will be travelling long distances to deliver the materials to police stations which are poorly equipped across the country especially the northern region and the Islamist could spring surprises by ambushing these vehicles and destroying polling materials.
There is also the tendency that the rebels will organise themselves into groups and attack the various polling stations where voting materials are kept since such stations lack the personnel to resist their attacks.
Another question is, how can the people and political organisations campaign in such insecure atmosphere where some parts of the country have become no go areas?
Free, fair and transparent election can only be conducted if the political combatants can travel the length and breadth of a country without any inhibition or threats from any quarters .
If politicians decide to campaign even in the south, can the state provide all of them with security since there is lack of personnel and the state itself is bleeding financially.
At the moment Tuareg separatists rebels are also stifling the efforts of the Central Government in the northern regions of the country by restricting their operations .
Although a government delegation and representatives of the Tuareg rebels who are fighting for autonomy in the north met in Burkina Faso to smoke peace pipe, it will not be easy to canvass for votes in those areas and secure maximum votes.
By Kweku Tsen