Mali Abandons French
Mali abandons French: Mali’s new constitution has removed French as the official language of the country, despite the fact that French has been in use since 1960. It has been reported that the new constitution, which was approved in a referendum on June 18 by an overwhelming majority of 96.91% of the votes cast, will no longer recognize French as the official language.
Although French will be the working language, 13 other national languages spoken in the country will receive official language status. In addition to Bambara, Bobo, Dogon, and Minianka, Mali is home to over 70 other indigenous languages. In 1982, a decree designated some of these languages as official national languages, including Bambara, Bobo, and Minianka. It is important to keep in mind that Col.
Assimi Goita, the commander of Mali’s junta, put the country’s new constitution into effect, which marked the commencement of the Fourth Republic in the West African nation of Mali. According to the Mali Presidency, ever since the military took control in a coup in August of 2020, they have maintained that revising the country’s constitution is essential to the process of reconstructing the nation.
In recent years, Mali has been the scene of two separate military takeovers, the first of which occurred in August 2020 and the second of which occurred in May 2021. Elections were originally scheduled to take place in February 2022, but the junta ultimately decided to push them back to February 2024.
The decision to stop teaching French in Mali comes at a time when anti-French sentiment is on the rise throughout West Africa as a result of what is believed to be France’s military and political meddling.
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