Background
Traore, Moussa was born on September 25, 1936 in Kayes, Mali.
Traore, Moussa was born on September 25, 1936 in Kayes, Mali.
Traoré studied at Kita and at the military academy in Fréjus, France.
In 1960 he returned to his home country and was made a lieutenant of the Malian army in 1964. At the time of the coup d'etat he was an instructor at the Kati Inter-Services School, some eight miles to the north-west of Bamako.
Early on November 19, 1968, he led a group of 14 young army officers into the capital, used a ruse to assemble the Popular Militia and disarmed them, then occupied the key positions in the capital, arrested President Keita and announced over the radio that a Committee of National Liberation had been established and that “the regime of Keita and his lackeys” had been overthrown.
Two days later the CMLN published its Order no. 1, announcing the formation of a provisional government under Captain Diakite, Lieutenant Traore having become the self-appointed Chief of State. Order no. 1 became an historical document also because it promised free parliamentary and presidential elections before June 1969.
Nine months and 46 orders later, the CMLN had become the true source of power (Order no. 47, August 29, 1969), but no mention of elections had been made. Lieutenant Traore had also become concurrently president of the CMLN, head of government and Chief of State.
The political philosophy engendered by Lieutenant Traore’s CMLN was unpretentiously simple; national reconciliation (but no freeing of former opponents), gradual dismantling of Mali’s socialist structure, reorganisation of the country’s economic and financial position, encouragement of foreign investment. The military have made d known that “the time for a return to constitutional life, as well as the way id which this return will take place, will be announced to the people at the proper time”. Meanwhile, for reasons of “efficiency and opportunity”, all political activity is temporarily suspended so as to allow the governing bodies to give their undivided attention to financial and economic problems.
On April 8, 1971, Lieutenant Traore announced the expulsion of Captains Diakite and Diallo, accused of conspiring against the government. With Captain Diakite’s departure, his position became noticeably reinforced within the CMLN.
In October 1972 Lieutenant Traore was “exceptionally” promoted by the CMLN to the grade of colonel.
The political situation stabilised during 1981 and 1982, and remained generally calm throughout the 1980s. The UDPM began attracting additional members as it demonstrated that it could counter an effective voice against the excesses of local administrative authorities. Shifting its attention to Mali's economic difficulties, the government approved plans for cereal marketing liberalization, reform in the state enterprise system, new incentives to private enterprise, and an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, by 1990, there was growing dissatisfaction with the demands for austerity imposed by the IMF's economic reform programs and the perception that the president and his close associates were not themselves adhering to those demands. As in other African countries, demands for multi-party democracy increased. Traoré allowed some reforms, including the establishment of an independent press and independent political associations, but insisted that Mali was not ready for democracy.
President military committee National Liberation, 1968. Secretary-general National Council Union Democratique du Peuple Malien, 1979—1980. Chairman Organization African Unity, 1988—1989.
Member Center Executive Bureau. Served as non-commissioned officer French Army.
A poor speaker, reserved but not timid, he chose a military career because he thinks that “only a soldier can really become a full man”. Though Head of State, he still lives in modest quarters in the military camp.
His French instructors at Frejus, who had marked on his papers that he was a "nice officer, well dressed, strong personality”, did not discern in him any exceptional qualities of leadership and he was considered as an equal to colleagues such as Malick Diallo, Charles Sissoko and Mamadou Sissoko, who were later to rise to be captains. But Colonel Traore knew that the army had a mission to fulfil in Mali and when the occasion came, he also knew how to handle it.
His knowledge of politics is restricted. When he says that “military coups d’etat are beneficial to under-developed countries, see the example of South America . . he is thinking as a soldier concerned with law and order.
Known to be very careful to keep his word, he found he was unable to keep his promise to restore civilian rule by 1969.