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Culled from BBC online.
Lord we do have them, don't we? I am talking about the lying,
fraudulent,cheating,stealing presidents plaquing our continent.
Read on and have your jaws drop in this master spinner's latest
ploy.You have to give to him though, for if ever there is a crafty
fellow,here he is!!!
Regards
Manneh
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Tuesday, 23 April, 2002, 17:17 GMT 18:17 UK
Konare - Mali's master of spin
By the BBC's Joan Baxter
Bamako
The enormous pink building, meant to house Mali's national library, is still a
hollow shell.
The huge complex is being financed by Libya's Colonel Gadaffi for a cost of
several million US dollars. It cannot be opened because of structural faults
the budget will not cover.
The multi-million dollars library remains closed
This does not stop President Alpha Oumar Konare from turning an official visit
to the site - in the company of the French culture minister - into a public
relations coup.
Mali's state television cameras, and more importantly, the cameras of French
media travelling with their minister, zooms in on President Konare - a former
archeologist - as he arrives in a modest Renault.
Any concerns about the usefulness and cost of this grandiose but flawed library
project are deflected by Mr Konare's schoolboy smile as he emerges from behind
the wheel.
Illusions
Malian viewers, who know their president always moves about in speeding convoys
of luxury vehicles that can block traffic for hours, are decidedly unimpressed.
People on the street wonder aloud about the president's priorities, and this
new "pink elephant", when 72% of the population live below the poverty line and
cannot count on more than one meal a day.
More than half of Malians cannot read or write. Less than half the children
attend school and the government claims it has no money to pay impoverished
students bursaries to further their education, certainly no money for even a
basic library in its one university.
But the foreign media and visitors are wowed by the theatrics of a president
who despite 10 years in office is still not above driving his own car.
Once again, President Konare has lived up to his reputation as a "modest man"
and "model democrat".
Ironically, that is an image that opposition leaders claim the foreign media
and diplomats created.
It is also why, at the end of his second and final mandate, President Konare
has been dubbed by Choguel Maiga, one of 24 candidates running in the
presidential elections on 28 April, as "the merchant of illusions".
Foreign fans
Mountaga Tall, another long-time political opponent, alleges that the president
has "ruled only to please the international community".
Certainly President Konare has pleased the international community.
Konare brought the African Nations Cup to Mali
One UN official describes him as a "visionary" and some diplomats privately
admit they are sorry to see him go, despite the constitution that limits a
president to two terms.
Diplomats and UN representatives praise him for putting to an end to six years
of rebellion by the Tuareg people in Mali's desert north.
They applaud his efforts to end the illegal traffic of small arms in West
Africa and to speed up regional integration during his two years as head of the
Economic Community of West Africa (Ecowas).
Under President Konare, civil servants have been paid on time, Mali has kept up
payments on its $3.3 billion debt and adhered to structural reforms -
decentralisation and privatisation.
Largely thanks to cotton and gold, the Malian economy grew at about 5% between
1996 and 1998. Since then, it has stagnated.
'Systemic corruption'
And at the end of 10 years of democracy under Konare, Mali still ranks fifth
from the bottom of Unicef's human development scale for 193 countries.
A recent World Bank study on corruption in Mali over the past decade
contradicts much of the political and economic praise from the outside.
The report says corruption in Mali is "systemic and pernicious".
Konare has good international connections
It notes that laws to punish economic crimes with harsh penal sentences have
been abolished under Mr Konare.
It describes Mali's democracy as a system in which the ruling party buys
political support and votes, with high-level posts or with lucrative government
contracts - many not tendered.
This report has made campaigning delicate for some of Mr Konare's would-be
successors. Some of the front-running candidates were part of Mr Konare's inner
circle for years, notably former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and
former Finance Minister Soumaila Cissé.
Even political opponents have muted their criticism in their election
campaigning.
One candidate, who boycotted the 1997 elections and then spent three months in
prison, says: "We just want him to go. So we want to assure him that no one
will bear a grudge or prosecute him for what he has done during his time in
power".
But others do not mince their words. In a recent BBC interview, internationally
acclaimed Malian musician, Salif Keita said he "hated" Mr Konare and described
him as "the worst president Mali ever had".
This echoes complaints by student groups, opposition parties and trade unions
that Konare used manipulation and intrigue to split and silence pressure groups
in the country.
Selling Mali
The majority of Malians, however, are more ambivalent.
Konare has prominent critics at home
Many are grateful to President Konare for bringing them the African Cup of
Nations this year, ignoring the price tag of about $200 million for a 3-week
sporting event in favour of the glory and publicity the tournament brought
their country.
There is widespread criticism on the streets of Mr Konare's predilection for
expensive monuments, the growing poverty, opacity in public finances and for
the crisis that has all gripped Mali's education system throughout his decade
in office.
There is also recognition that despite its poverty, as a democracy the country
has earned international recognition for its relative peace and stability,
culture and glorious history.
All this, because the greatest legacy of President Alpha Oumar Konare may turn
out to be his genius in selling not only himself but also his country to the
rest of the world.
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