Mali's leading contender for 2022 presidential elections dies of COVID-19

Soumaila Cissé, Mali’s main opposition leader who was kept hostage for six months earlier this year by jihadists and was considered a leading contender in the 2022 presidential election, has died in Paris. He was 71.

Cissé died after getting COVID-19, his eldest son Bocar told The Associated Press.

“The students did everything to keep him alive, but that’s the idea of God’s will,” he said.

The death throws Malian politics into a new theory.

Cissé was the runner-up in the past three official elections, and many thought he had the best odds of finally winning in 2022.

He was taken prisoner by an al-Qaida-affiliated jihadist in March while campaigning for legislative votes in his hometown of Niafunke in northern Mali.

Amid public demand, the Malian state obtained his liberation in October, along by that of French and Italian hostages, in exchange for the release of around 200 jihadists from Malian prisons.

It wasn’t known whether a ransom had done given, though radical groups have long supported their operations with such amounts from European governments.

In an interview after being rescued from captivity, Cissé told that people who kidnapped him, often moved the inmates by motorcycle, boat, and even camel.

He stated he was kept in more than 20 separate places. While he announced he wasn’t harmed physically or verbally, he explained remarkably challenging situations in the sand and said he lacked the medication he needed.

Cissé said he was able to listen to the radio and was excited by the news of the August army coup that toppled Mali’s democratically chosen president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

Mali’s interim leader, Sem Ba N’Daw, showed his condolences to Cissé‘s family and followers on Friday, telling millions of Malians “are in shock” at the news.

Describing a gathering with Cissé after he was released, he stated Cissé’s “optimism had outlived intact,” and said, “the roots still required his expertise and stability to face today’s challenges.”

In his last Facebook post, on Christmas Eve, Cissé told “an excellent holiday of joy and health” to Christians in his farm and around the world, at a time when Mali is facing recurring crises — including the coronavirus pandemic.