Some religious leaders are so powerful that citizens rever them more than those in political power. In fact some of them enjoy political power: Bishop Abel Muzorewa of Zimbabwe; Boshop Makarios 111 of Cyprus and Ayatollah Ruholah Komeini of Iran.
There is a man who Malians respect and obey now. He is Imam Mahmoud Dicko, the Mallian version of Ayatollah Komeini. Dicko was the arrowhead of the 30-day unrest which culminated in the ouster of President Boubacar Keita.
The 66 -year old Dicko, as PMNEWS reported today, is a Saudi-trained Muslim cleric and hugely popular. “He backed Keita until they fell out in late 2017 over, among other things, the president’s choice of Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga as prime minister. On Friday, he led the M5-RFP leaders to a rally at Independence Square in Bamako, in support of the armed forces and the Colonel Assimi Goita-led CNSP. It was also a rally of celebration of victory against Keita. Thousands of Malians were at the rally, reported L’Essor, the country’s main newspaper.”