Former Mali prime minister Moussa Mara gives up state pension, says the poor need it more

Former Malian prime minister Moussa Mara at a World Economic Forum summit in Abuja on 8 May 2014. (Pius Utomi Ekpei/ AFP)

• Moussa Mara has given up a R22 000 monthly pension payout, along with other financial provisions he was entitled to as a former statesman.
• He says the poor need the money more than he does.
• Mara was the county’s leader for nine months.

Former Malian prime minister Moussa Mara has given up his pension benefits, saying the public needs the money more than he does.

In a letter addressed to incumbent Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga, who serves under the junta government, Mara said his decision was “motivated by my desire to relieve public finances and help direct our meagre resources towards amenities more useful to our populations”.

Mara served as prime minister for nine months between 2014 and 2015. Before that, he was the minister of town planning. 

He was an unsuccessful presidential candidate in 2013, when Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta defeated Soumaïla Cissé in a run-off.

As part of his pension, Mara’s home and electricity bills were covered by the state. His mobile phone bill was also paid for, on top of a monthly cash payout equivalent to some R22 000.

He said he would be paying his own bills from the end of August.

READ | Support for democracy in SA, Mali lowest in Africa, according to survey

With a 2021 UN Development Programme Human Development Index score of 0.428, Mali is among the world’s poorest nations.

According to the World Bank, the country’s poverty rate rose from 42.5% in 2019 to 44.4% in 2021. Lower income and a higher cost of living also pushed 375 000 Malians into extreme poverty in that period.

The Malian junta government came into power through successive coups in 2020 and 2021. 

Since then, Mali has distanced itself from its Western allies, notably France, in favour of Russia.

Economic growth is now burdened by a resurgent rebel conflict in the country’s north and the growing threat of Islamist militants.

The military rulers failed to meet a March 2024 deadline to allow a return to civilian authority through elections.

As a result, the opposition established a government in exile, with Mohamed Cherif Kone as its leader.

However, Mali’s national dialogue talks in May resolved to give the Colonel Assimi Goita-led government three more years in power. Thereafter, he can contest with civilians in a general election.

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