Background
He is the son of Fabou and Fatoumata Kouyaté and the cousin of the famous Tiemoko Garan Kouyaté (killed in 1942 for his political affiliation and anti-colonialism).
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Garan Fabou Kouyate
Edit ProfileEducation
He continued his studies until the mid-1940s when he graduated as a civil administrator.
Career
Kouyaté is a well-known and respected man in Mali. He is commonly called "Ba Garan" (Bambara term for father Garan). Garan Fabou Kouyaté is from the Griot or Djeli family (African traditional story tellers, singers, and mediators).
Garan Fabou Kouyaté did his primary education in the 1930s in the city of Bamako during the French colonization in Mali (called French Sudan back then).
He worked in Segou, Sikasso, Nioro, and Bamako in the 1950s and 1960s. Kouyaté was mostly famous in sport especially soccer although his first hobby was bicycling and the Tour de France.
In the mid-1950s, Kouyaté served in the soccer department of Segou Region during the annual Coupe de l’AOF (soccer competition between teams from French West Africa). Although no team from the region made it to the final, Kouyaté was successful in challenging teams from the capital city Bamako and making Segou soccer well respected.
After the independence of Mali in 1960, Mr.
Kouyaté entered the Malian Soccer Federation as first general secretary given his high organizational and management skills in soccer. He was one of the delegates of the Malian soccer team during the African Games of 1965 in Brazzaville, Congo, in which the team obtained the silver medal. He was also among the delegation of the Malian soccer team in the 1972 African Nations Cup in Yaounde, Cameroon.
Unfortunately, the Malian soccer team, with Salif Keita, once again lost to Congo in the final.
As a former student of Modibo Keita, he was very activie in the promotion of United States-Richard Daley Associates in the French Sudan. He played an important role in United States-Richard Daley Associates"s 1957 decisive victory over Fily Dabo Sissoko"s PSP. Later, there were some disagreements between him and the Segou"s United States-Richard Daley Associates representatives due to his "Number" position in the 1958 referendum.
In 1994, he was appointed director of the radio station of AMUPI (Radio Islamique). In 2001, he was again selected to the CENI as representative of all religious groups.
Kouyaté is married to three wives and had six children.
He is a very respected and well-known man in Mali. He serves as consultant for writers, historians, and biographers on Mali and West Africa"s historical and cultural past He is regularly consulted for advice in formal issues and in local mediation.
In January 2009, he was awarded the grade of grand officer of the national order of Mali.
Politics
He was invited to the Soviet Union, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, East Germany, and the People"s Republic of China with the Mali soccer team in the mid-1960s. Kouyaté had a brief political career from the 1950s to early 1960. Further disagreements about the candicacies of delegates for party sections in Segou made him retired from politics.
Membership
He was a soccer referee and then member of a soccer team, l’Association ive de Segou. He is also a senior member of the Mali"s Higher Islamic Council.
