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'Alpha Oumar Konaré' (born 2 February 1946) was the president of Mali for two five-year terms (1992 to 2002), and has been Chairman of the African Commission since 2003.

Contents

Scholarly career

Political activism

ADEMA and presidency

References

Scholarly career

Alpha Oumar Konaré fourth son of a Bambara teacher and a Fula homemaker was born in Kayes, Mali, where he went to primary school. He went on to attend Bamako's ''Lycée Terrasson des Fougères'', the ''Collège de Maristes'' of Dakar, Senegal, the ''Collège Moderne'' of Kayes and, between 1962 and 1964, the ''École Normale Secondaire'' of Katibougou. He completed his advanced studies in history at the ''École Normale Supérieure'' in Bamako (1965–1969) and at the University of Warsaw between 1971 and 1975.
He began his professional career as a tutor in Kayes, then a lycée teacher at Markala and Bamako. In 1974, he did research at the ''Institut des Sciences Humaines du Mali,'' then, from 1975 to 1978, acted as head of historic patrimony and ethnography at the Ministry of Youth, Sports, Arts, and Culture. In 1980, he was named researcher at the ''Institut Supérieur de Formation en Recherche Appliquée'' (I.S.F.R.A), and Professor at the History/Geography department at the ''École Normale Supérieure'' of Bamako. In the course of his career, he headed several professional organizations, including the Association of Historians and Geographers of Mali, the West African Association of Archaeologists, and the Union of West African Researchers. Between 1981 and 1992, Konaré served as a consultant for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Political activism

Konaré was involved in politics as early as the age of twenty, when he was elected the 1967 Secretary General of the Sudanese Union/African Democratic Rally (US-RDA, the party of President Modibo Keïta) of the École Normale Supérieure of Bamako.
Following the coup d'état of General Moussa Traoré, he became an activist for the Marxist-Leninist, clandestine Malian Party for Work (''Parti malien du travail'', or PMT).
In 1978, however, he accepted a post in Moussa Traoré's government as Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts, and Culture. Though he resigned in 1980, his term was marked by the formation of many Malian sports organizations. He went on to found and direct the cultural review "Jamana" in 1983, as well as the cultural cooperative of the same name. In 1989 he also founded the daily newspaper "Les échos," and in 1991 began "Radio Bamakan," Mali's first free radio station.

ADEMA and presidency

In 1990, he participated in the creation of the umbrella movement Alliance for Democracy in Mali (''Alliance pour la démocratie au Mali'', or ADEMA), which united the PMT with a number of other anti-Traoré groups. With the 1991 fall of Moussa Traoré, Konaré helped transform ADEMA into ADEMA/PASJ, an official political party, and served as its delegate to the 1991 National Conference of Mali.
By the end of the democratic transition instituted by Amadou Toumani Touré, he was elected President of the Republic, with 69.01% of the vote in the second round against US-RDA candidate Tiéoulé Mamadou Konaté. He was re-elected for a second term in 1997 despite a boycott of the ballot in protest of his annulation of legislative elections.
His terms are noted for the restoration of democracy in spite of the 1997 difficulties, his management of the Tuareg Rebellion in the north, and his decentralization of the government. However, corruption remained a significant problem under Konaré's administration.
Konaré publicly rendered homage to Mali's first president, Modibo Keïta, and created a memorial to him in Bamako. Opposed to the death penalty, he commuted the death sentences of Moussa Traoré and his wife to life in prison in 2002. He is also remembered as the man who brought the continent's most prestigious football tournament, the African Cup of Nations, to Mali in 2002.
On the international stage, Konaré worked for peace and integration in the West African region. He served as president of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in 1999, and of the West African Monetary Union (UEMOA) in 2000.
Term limited to two presidential terms by the constitution, Konaré left office in 2002 and was succeeded by Amadou Toumani Touré. On 10 July 2003, he was elected Chairman of the Commission of the African Union at the Maputo summit.
Konaré recently raised the ire of civil society in Zimbabwe when, during a visit to Harare on October 14th, 2006, in his capacity as Chairperson of the AU, he declined invitations to meet with representatives of non-governmental organizations to discuss the Zimbabwe crisis.
On January 25, 2007, Konaré said that he did not intend to seek another term as Chairman of the Commission; his present term will end later in the year.^[1]

References

1. Omar Faye, "AU Chairman says will bow out for another candidate", African Press Agency, January 25, 2007.