Mali’s former finance minister, Bouare Fily Sissoko, was sentenced on Tuesday to 10 years in prison in connection with the controversial purchase of a presidential plane and military equipment over a decade ago.
According to an official document from the Bamako Court seen by AFP, Sissoko was convicted of “damaging public assets.”
The scandal dates back to the regime of former head of state Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
The purchase of the presidential plane, estimated at nearly $40 million, and military equipment, all without competitive tenders, led to financial sanctions against Mali in 2014, including a six-month freeze on disbursements from the International Monetary Fund.
This case became a significant symbol of corruption in Mali and has frequently been cited by the country’s military leaders to justify their 2021 coup.
Credit: West Africa Democracy Radio
In the same case, Moustapha Ben Barka, a former minister and ex-vice-president of the West African Development Bank (BOAD), was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment.
Several other officials also received jail sentences.
Sissoko’s lawyer, Tounkara Dianguina, told AFP that the verdict was “disproportionate,” claiming his client was “paying for others, especially the dead.”
Notably, former Malian prime minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga, who served as defence minister at the time of the purchase, was arrested and charged in 2021 but died in prison in March 2023, having maintained his innocence.
The exact amount of the alleged irregularities has varied depending on the source.
