Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé (4 January 1948 – 6 November 2021) was a Malian politician and the
Prime Minister of Mali
This is a list of prime ministers of Mali since the country gained independence from France in 1960 to the present day. The prime minister heads the Council of Ministers of Mali, Council of Ministers.
A total of seventeen people have served as ...
at the time of the
2012 Malian coup d'état
The 2012 Malian coup d'état began on 21 March that year, when mutinying Malian soldiers, displeased with the management of the Tuareg rebellion, attacked several locations in the capital Bamako, including the presidential palace, state televi ...
. She was the first female prime minister in the country's history. She was announced to the position by decree on 3 April 2011, replacing
Modibo Sidibé
Modibo Sidibé (born 7 November 1952) is a Malian politician who was Prime Minister of Mali from September 2007 to April 2011.Amadou Toumani Touré
Amadou Toumani Touré (4 November 19489 November 2020), also popularly known in Mali by his initials ATT (), was a Malian politician. He supervised Mali's first multiparty elections as chairman of the transitional government (1991–1992), and la ...
before she was removed from office in the 22 March 2012 coup.
Early career
Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé was born in
Timbuktu
Timbuktu ( ; ; Koyra Chiini: ; ) is an ancient city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali, having a population of 32,460 in the 2018 census.
...
, Mali on 4 January 1948.CV: Mme Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé . Presidency of Mali. 3 April 2011. Her family name is ''Sidibé'' but she later took her husband's family name ''Cissé'' as well. Sidibé Cissé was educated at a
Goundam
Goundam is a commune and town in north central Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The cou ...
primary school, and later received her ''baccalauréat'' in 1970. From there she received a degree in Civil Administration from the Malian National School for Administration (EDA) in Bamako.
From 1974 to 1989 Sidibé Cissé worked as a civil servant in the Ministry of Oversight for State Companies and Societies (''Ministère de Tutelle des Sociétés et Entreprises d’Etat du Mali''), becoming assistant to the Minister from 1987. During this period, Sidibé Cissé studied at universities and foundations throughout West Africa, and farther afield in France, Canada, Belgium, and Italy.
In the interim return to democratic rule in 1991, Sidibé Cissé was named special adviser to the president (the interim presidency then held by coup leader
Amadou Toumani Touré
Amadou Toumani Touré (4 November 19489 November 2020), also popularly known in Mali by his initials ATT (), was a Malian politician. He supervised Mali's first multiparty elections as chairman of the transitional government (1991–1992), and la ...
) and was named Minister of Planning and International Cooperation of the transitional government (August 1991-June 1992). From May 1992 to June 1992, she also was Minister of Agriculture. Sidibé Cissé served from August 1993 to November 2000 as executive secretary of the intergovernmental Interstate Committee on the Fight Against Desertification in the Sahel ('' Cilss -- Comité Inter-Etats de lutte contre la sécheresse au Sahel'') based in
Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, wi ...
. In August 2001 Sidibé Cissé was again named special counselor to the president, this time following Amadou Toumani Touré election to that office. From March to June 2002, Sidibé Cissé was again appointed to ministerial posting, becoming Minister of Rural Development. In 2003, Sidibé Cissé was named the president of the administrative council of Mali's government Tobacco corporation, SONTAM (''Société nationale des tabacs et allumettes du Mali'').
Prime minister
On 30 March 2011 Amadou Toumani Touré announced that his prime minister,
Modibo Sidibé
Modibo Sidibé (born 7 November 1952) is a Malian politician who was Prime Minister of Mali from September 2007 to April 2011.
Malian press reactions to her appointment centered on her role as the first female PM, but also on the political calculus behind the move. One paper described her as "unknown to most of the public". Others pointed to the promise made that the government would not contain any leaders wishing to run in the 2012 Presidential or legislative elections. The new PM is seen as having been close to the previous President (and ADEMA leader) Alpha Oumar Konare, and perhaps a "clean pair of hands" to carry out government reforms which President Amadou Toumani Touré has promised.
The editor of the powerful Bamako daily, Le Républicain, speculated that Amadou Toumani Touré's choice of woman Prime Minister was in part a symbol, reaching out to female voters in the year leading to the June 2012 Malian elections, and allowing the previous PM opportunity to run for the Presidency. He praised the President for his appointment in a "still very conservative country remains divided on the issue of gender and the vicissitudes of the family code", a reference to the Family Law bill proposed in 2009, that would have promoted women's rights, and was withdrawn after large conservative protests.
Removal from office
On 22 March 2012, mutinying soldiers unhappy with Touré's management of the
2012 Tuareg rebellion
The 2012 Tuareg rebellion was the early phase of the Mali War; from January to April 2012, a war was waged against the Politics of Mali, Malian government by rebels with the goal of attaining independence for the northern region of Mali, known as ...
seized power in a
coup d'état
A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup
, is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...
.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
reported that Sidibé Cissé and other ministers had been detained by junta forces and were being held at a military camp in
Kati
KATI (94.3 FM), branded as 94.3 KAT Country, is a radio station which broadcasts country music and St. Louis Cardinals baseball. Licensed to California, Missouri, the station serves the Jefferson City
Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, ...
.
International and diplomatic roles
On 26 May 2011, Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé was one of the keynote speakers at the launch of
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
's Global Partnership for Girls’ and Women’s Education. As Prime Minister, she received
state visits
A state visit is a formal visit by the head of a sovereign country (or representative of the head of a sovereign country) to another sovereign country, at the invitation of the head of state (or representative) of that foreign country, with th ...
, including the visit from HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco in February 2012. On 5 November 2015 she was named ambassador of the
Niger Basin Authority
The Niger Basin Authority () is an intergovernmental organization in West Africa aiming to foster co-operation in managing and developing the resources of the basin of the Niger River. The group is referred to by both the French and English init ...