Mali: "Menaka without weapons", a local initiative that is gaining momentum
Joint patrol of Fama (Malian armed forces) and Gatia (Groupe Autodefense Tuareg Imghad and Allies) in the Ménaka region in northern Mali (illustrative image).
Souleymane AG ANARA / AFP
Text by: David Baché
4 min
Third night of curfew this Thursday in Ménaka.
This measure is not taken anywhere else in the country, it is part of the local initiative "Menaka without weapons", which brings together local authorities, armed groups signatories of the peace agreement, community leaders and notables of the area.
Objective: fight against insecurity linked to banditry and the presence of terrorist groups.
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The “Menaka without weapons” initiative was launched last year, but it takes on a new dimension for this second year. Armed men are no longer allowed to circulate on motorcycles in Ménaka, day or night, because it is the most frequent way of circulating among highwaymen and among jihadist terrorists. And from a certain time, the ban applies to everyone.
“
For motorcyclists, from 7
pm, traffic is strictly prohibited. For pedestrians and vehicles, it is from 10
pm,
explains Moussa Ag Acharatoumane, head of the MSA armed group and co-chairman of the Consolidation Commission of “Menaka without weapons”.
There are a number of people who are exempt from this curfew, including those who work for energy, health workers, etc.
"
A year ago, “Menaka without weapons” began with the coordination of patrols between pro-government armed groups (the Gatia and the MSA) and the national army.
Today, under the aegis of the governor, a Consolidation Commission has been set up, with elected officials and local notables, and now with all the armed groups that have signed the 2015 peace agreement.
“
The process is much more inclusive, with the various armed groups that have joined the current dynamic,”
underlines Moussa Ag Acharatoumane.
The Malian army is the main actor doing the patrols inside the city, but outside the city, it is only the movements for the moment.
"
An expansion which also corresponds to the desire to extend the operation to the entire region. “
We have already started in the circle of Tidermène, we have started practically the same process of reconciliation between people. There is already a patrol that has been set up in the Tidermène circle. And I think that the commission will continue the same work in the circles of Andéramboukane, Inékar, to cover the whole region. Because that's the goal, in the long term
. "
The initiative also advocates the settlement of daily disputes by an Islamic judge, and encourages the leaders (traditional, military or administrative) of the Menaka region to reside there. Because the objective is also to reinforce the presence of the persons in charge of the zone on their territory, to avoid any feeling of abandonment among the populations, with a system of rotating presidency.
“
Ménaka is a region in which each time the first officials are elsewhere, in Bamako or elsewhere,”
underlines Moussa Ag Acharatoumane.
This is why we have set up a system in place whereby each month, the leaders of the region must spend a month in Ménaka to manage the commission, to be in contact with the administration, with the populations.
This will allow us to overcome this void that has always existed in the region.
"
Among the members of the “Menaka without weapons” commission: representatives of the armed groups that signed the peace agreement, the mayor of the city, the president of the Regional Assembly, several local notables - ex-deputy, economic operator - or General El Hadj Ag Gamou.
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