The images emerging from Bamako over the past 24 hours are striking — empty streets, long lines before shuttered petrol stations, silent motorcycles, and weary faces drained by heat and frustration. The city feels suspended, as if the country itself were holding its breath.
Behind the military authorities’ silence lies an undeniable truth: the fuel shortage is worsening, day after day, exposing the deep incapacity of the junta that has seized power to guarantee the supply of one of the country’s most vital resources — fuel — essential to both the economy and daily life.
A Country Held Hostage by Its Leaders
Who could have imagined that in 2025, traveling just 20 kilometers outside Bamako could cost one’s life?
Such is the tragic reality of a nation taken hostage by a military leadership trapped in propaganda and denial, entirely detached from the suffering of its people.
There is no security, no electricity, no fuel — and soon, perhaps, not even enough food, in a country that depends heavily on imports to survive.
For many Malians, daily life has become a double punishment: suffocating days under the blazing sun without power, followed by nights of fear under a curfew imposed in the name of “security.”
Citizens now live imprisoned between four walls, not by an external enemy, but by their own rulers.
An Economy at a Standstill
On October 4, the Sadiola gold mine — one of Mali’s main sources of foreign currency — halted its operations due to a lack of fuel.
This event is not an isolated incident but a glaring signal of a systemic breakdown. Gold represents nearly 83% of Mali’s total exports by value. To paralyze such a sector is to strike at the very heart of the nation’s economy.
The consequences are severe: loss of revenue, growing unemployment, and rising tensions with international partners. Yet, the authorities remain engrossed in their rhetoric, detached from the gravity of the situation.
Meanwhile…
… the military authorities in Bamako continue to tighten their grip on every lever of public life. They restrict freedoms, impose censorship, and silence dissent under the pretext of safeguarding national security.
They threaten the United Nations from their podiums, yet cannot even supply their own capital with fuel.
This posture of arrogance mixed with impotence reveals the tragic disconnect between words and reality. Denial has become governance; repression has become policy.
… meanwhile, the country sinks deeper into crisis. Entire neighborhoods are plunged into darkness due to power cuts. Fear, scarcity, and uncertainty define daily existence. The crisis is no longer circumstantial — it has become a way of life.
… meanwhile, the hollow promises of the junta no longer deceive anyone.
The narrative of “sovereignty” and “national rebirth” has lost all credibility. What remains is a regime politically weak yet violently repressive — capable of intimidating journalists, but not of stopping the sabotage of fuel convoys or the violence on national roads.
The Shadow of Collapse
The specter of economic collapse looms over Mali.
Production is halted, transport crippled, prices soaring, and energy running out. These are not temporary hardships — they are symptoms of a deeper structural decay.
Still, the junta postpones elections under the pretext of achieving “total pacification” — a peace that never comes. Perhaps, in truth, instability serves their purpose. The longer the crisis endures, the longer they can justify their hold on power.
The Hour of Truth
Mali stands today at a perilous crossroads.
The junta that usurped power has lost both moral and political legitimacy. Governing is not about threats, repression, or deception — it is about foresight, responsibility, and service.
The Malian people deserve better than a regime that rules through fear and darkness. They deserve a state capable of restoring light, work, movement, and dignity.
As long as the military leadership persists in denial and censorship, Mali will continue to sink into chaos. And the world — though silent — sees it clearly: one of Africa’s proudest nations is slowly suffocating under the weight of a leadership lost between illusion and reality.
By Belgacem Merbah
Petition : https://www.mesopinions.com/petition/politique/appel-solennel-a-expulsion-marocains-situation/232124
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