Mali has been embroiled in a battle with jihadists for nearly the entirety of Ibrahim Boubacar Keita’s president that began in 2013. After winning reelection in August 2018 and beginning his second and final term the following month, all appeared to be smooth sailing until video of his son Karim Kaita surfaced.
In the series of videos, Karim Keita is seen with skimpily clad women along with some friends on what appeared to be a private yatch sailing and partying. The videos are reported to have angered young Malians who viewed the opulent lifestyle of the first son as evidence of their money being wasted away.
How Karim Keita finances his lifestyle is uncertain. For starters, it is widely known within the business community in Mali that no one goes to the father except by the son. Foreign investors must go through the son to get to the father, which usually means interests in stakes of big business.
Karim Keïta was born in Paris, France, the son of Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. He studied in Belgium and Canada. After his return to Mali in 2006 he set up two companies, a rental car business and an investment advice firm.
He entered politics and was elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of the Rally for Mali in the second round of the November–December 2013 parliamentary election. After his election he became Chairman of the Security and Defence Commission of the National Assembly.
Thus while its difficult to finger actual theft of state funds or embezzlement, it is not hard to establish corruption, nepotism and cronyism. Either way, Malians were not having a son of the president splurging of money while they suffered under unemployment, terrorism and overall hardship.
Last month in the midst of the protests the mansion in Bamako belonging to the president’s son was vandalized and “everything including tiles” were stolen by protesters. But Karim Keita is reported to own similar mansions in Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire so there shouldn’t be a problem with where to sleep.
Unlike his father, Karim is not known to be in custody or even in Mali. What is clear is that the anger that his opulent lifestyle has generated makes it unsafe for him to be inside Mali. And that anger may be playing a role in why the ECOWAS negotiation for President Keita’s release includes where he would go into exile.
Other famous opulent lifestyle first children are Teodorin Obiang of Equitorial Guinea, and Isabel dos Santos of Angola. May be Malians may have provided the lesson on why Africa’s leader must control their children.
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