Mali’s incumbent president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has won his re-election bid after winning 67.17% of the vote in the runoff. This victory gives him an additional five-year term. The election was marred by a lot of voting irregularities and militant violence cordoning off over 500 polling stations.
The turnout was abysmally low. The opposition candidate, Soumaila Cisse accused the incumbent’s campaign office of ballot snatching and tweaking of results at the collation centre. Despite the bitter rhetorics from both camps prior to the runoff, the streets of the capital city, Bamako, and other major cities was relatively calm.
With this win, Keita is offered a second chance to rid his country of extremists. Mali has become a breeding ground for terrorists around the Sahel Region and before the elections, the attacks compounded despite the presence of UN and French troops in the country.
