RETIRED colonel and former defence minister Bah Ndaw has been sworn in as Mali’s interim president, more than a month after a military coup overthrew embattled leader Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
Coup leader Colonel Assimi Goita was also sworn in as the vice president of the transition during a ceremony on Friday held in the capital, Bamako.
Ndaw’s appointment was announced earlier this week by Goita. The interim president will rule for a maximum of 18 months before staging nationwide elections.
Ndaw, 70, also served as defence minister in 2014 and previously headed the air force. He took the oath of office in front of several hundred military officers, political leaders and diplomats.
Described by former colleagues as “principled”, Ndaw said in a speech he would crack down on corruption, one of the main complaints against Keita’s government, and stamp out abuses by Mali’s armed forces against civilians.
“Mali has been
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