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Accumulators and Democrats: Challenging State Corruption in Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2008

Ernest Harsch
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Extract

As the news of President Moussa Traoré's overthrow spread through Mali in March 1991, large crowds of people poured into the streets of Bamako, Segu, Kati, and other towns to exact retribution, culminating weeks of popular unrest. They went after prominent officials, military officers, and members of the wealthy élite that had prospered during the 23 years of Traoré's authoritarian rule. Customs and tax offices, traditional centres of high-level corruption and embezzlement, were systematically burned, their files taken of scattered, their staff put to flight. Big merchants, accused of collaborating with the ousted régime and benefiting from state favours, saw their shops emptied and destroyed. Though disorganised and apparently beyond the control of any leadership, the crowds carefully spared vital economic installations — but not the Bamako offices of the Caisse centrale de coopération économique (C.C.C.E.), seemingly tainted by its rôle as the main channel for French financial aid to the Government.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , March 1993 , pp. 31 - 48
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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