Alpha Oumar Konaré

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Alpha Oumar Konaré
4th President of Mali
In office June 8, 1992 – June 8, 2002
Preceded by	Moussa Traoré
Succeeded by	Amadou Toumani Touré
Born	February 2, 1946 (1946-02-02) (age 62) Kayes, Mali
Political party	ADEMA-PASJ
Spouse	Adame Ba Konaré

Alpha Oumar Konaré (born 2 February 1946) was the President of Mali for two five-year terms (1992 to 2002), and was Chairperson of the African Union Commission from 2003 to 2008.

Contents 1 Scholarly career 2 Political activism 3 ADEMA and presidency 4 References

[edit] Scholarly career

Alpha Oumar Konaré fourth son of a Bambara teacher and a Fula homemaker was born in Kayes, Mali, where he went to primary school. He went on to attend Bamako's Lycée Terrasson des Fougères, the Collège de Maristes of Dakar, Senegal, the Collège Moderne of Kayes and, between 1962 and 1964, the École Normale Secondaire of Katibougou. He completed his advanced studies in history at the École Normale Supérieure in Bamako (1965–1969) and at the University of Warsaw between 1971 and 1975.

He began his professional career as a tutor in Kayes, then a lycée teacher at Markala and Bamako. In 1974, he did research at the Institut des Sciences Humaines du Mali, then, from 1975 to 1978, acted as head of historic patrimony and ethnography at the Ministry of Youth, Sports, Arts, and Culture. In 1980, he was named researcher at the Institut Supérieur de Formation en Recherche Appliquée (I.S.F.R.A), and Professor at the History/Geography department at the École Normale Supérieure of Bamako. In the course of his career, he headed several professional organizations, including the Association of Historians and Geographers of Mali, the West African Association of Archaeologists, and the Union of West African Researchers. Between 1981 and 1992, Konaré served as a consultant for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

[edit] Political activism

Konaré was involved in politics as early as the age of twenty, when he was elected the 1967 Secretary General of the Sudanese Union/African Democratic Rally (US-RDA, the party of President Modibo Keïta) of the École Normale Supérieure of Bamako.

Following the coup d'état of General Moussa Traoré, he became an activist for the Marxist-Leninist, clandestine Malian Party for Work (Parti malien du travail, or PMT).

In 1978, however, he accepted a post in Moussa Traoré's government as Minister of Youth, Sports, Arts, and Culture. Though he resigned in 1980, his term was marked by the formation of many Malian sports organizations. He went on to found and direct the cultural review "Jamana" in 1983, as well as the cultural cooperative of the same name. In 1989 he also founded the daily newspaper "Les échos," and in 1991 began "Radio Bamakan," Mali's first free radio station.

Member of the Club of Madrid.^[1]

[edit] ADEMA and presidency

[edit] References

Political offices
Preceded by Amadou Toumani Touré	President of Mali 1992 – 2002	Succeeded by Amadou Toumani Touré
Preceded by Gnassingbé Eyadéma	Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States 1999 – 2001	Succeeded by Abdoulaye Wade
Preceded by Amara Essy (interim)	Chairperson of the African Union Commission 2003 – 2008	Succeeded by Jean Ping

v • d • e Heads of state of Mali Keïta • Traor醠• Tour醠• Konaré • Touré † military

v • d • e Secretaries-General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and Chairpersons of the African Union (AU) Commission OAU Wodajo (acting) · Telli · Ekangaki · Eteki · Kodjo · Onu (acting) · Oumarou · Salim · Essy AU Essy (acting) · Konaré · Ping