Timbuktu residents, young people in particular, went out this Wednesday May 31, to protest against the final recruitment results in the various army corps. Demonstrators demand more rigor and transparency in recruitment.
« After so many years, it’s always the same thing. We have noted that recruitment is done in an arbitrary way. We decided to show our discontent through a peaceful march », indicated Mohamed Diarra, spokesman for the demonstrators.
According to the youth group, the results of the competition do not take into account the promised quota. On the recruitment notice « a common quota of 230 elements was specified for the Timbuktu and Taoudeni regions. A total of 2260 young people from the Timbuktu region submitted their applications to the selection but to our surprise, only 131 young people have been selected for the region of Timbuktu and there has been no mention of Taoudeni », says the document transmitted to the governor of Timbuktu.
The regional authorities, on their part, try to reassure the protesters. According to Governor Koïna Ag Ahmadou, « the Minister of Defense has already set the tone in relation to this practice. And I believe that all the young people of Mali through the Malian TV watched his intervention. With your patience, I believe it will be alright and we will ensure that the rules are applied throughout the territory ».
To strengthen the Malian army this year, the Ministry of Defense launched a recruitment operation in January of 5000 young people across the country.