Nearly two years after the dissolution of the AEEM, violence has receded in Malian universities. But, behind the calm, structural difficulties persist and the students’ ability to make their demands heard has been considerably weakened.
Twenty-one months after the Malian government dissolved the Association of Malian Pupils and Students (AEEM), a profound and unsettling quiet has settled over the nation’s university campuses. The once-familiar soundtrack of academic life—armed clashes between rival factions, extortion at campus gates, and violent protests—has fallen silent. At Kabala and on the Hill of Knowledge, former epicenters of student unrest, the tension has dissipated. For parents and university administrators, this calm represents a welcome respite from decades of institutionalized chaos. Yet, this peace has come at a significant cost: the effective silencing of the collective student voice.
To understand the present, one must revisit the AEEM’s trajectory. Founded in 1990 in the wave of democratic fervor following President Moussa Traoré’s fall, its initial mandate was noble: to defend the moral and material interests of Mali’s youth. However, like many student unions across West Africa, the AEEM gradually transformed. It became a political battleground, instrumentalized by external political actors and infiltrated by clan dynamics. Its leadership positions became coveted political launchpads, and its methods grew increasingly militant. The final straw came on February 28, 2024, during a violently contested leadership renewal. Deadly clashes between factions resulted in a student’s death and multiple injuries. Deeming the organization irredeemable, the transitional government issued a decree of dissolution on March 13, 2024—a decisive act that ended an era.
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The Paradox of Peace: Calm Campuses, Unresolved Grievances
The immediate benefit of the dissolution was undeniable: the restoration of physical security. Yet, this surface-level calm masks a deeper, more systemic malaise. The fundamental issues that fueled student discontent for generations remain wholly unaddressed. Students now navigate a “perfect storm” of academic dysfunction: chronic delays in scholarship payments that threaten their ability to eat and pay rent; repeated strikes by underpaid teaching staff; hopelessly overlapping academic years that leave cohorts in limbo; and crumbling, insufficient infrastructure. The dissolution removed a violent actor but did not create solutions.
A revealing survey of approximately one hundred students highlights this complex sentiment. While 26.67% maintain the dissolution was necessary to halt the violence, a striking 57.33% express regret. This majority is not nostalgic for the AEEM’s final, toxic incarnation. Instead, they mourn the loss of any organized, collective framework to articulate their needs. As Master’s student Issiaka dit Bayo Koné poignantly observes, the administrative body responsible for student welfare, the National Center for University Services (CNOU), now operates without pressure. “The CNOU no longer feels truly compelled to regularize this situation,” he notes, “knowing that no demands are possible anymore.” The absence of a credible threat of collective action has removed the incentive for institutional responsiveness.
A Generation in Limbo: The Concrete Cost of Disorganization
The human cost of this representation vacuum is starkly visible in academic purgatory. Consider the cohort admitted in 2021. Under a normal timeline, these students would now be pursuing Master’s degrees. Instead, many remain trapped in their second year, victims of perpetual postponements and administrative chaos. “We have endured postponements, strikes, and imposed administrative decisions. We have no way to make ourselves heard,” laments an anonymous student. In a desperate attempt to reset the calendar, some faculties have compressed two academic years into one, sacrificing pedagogical depth for bureaucratic expediency. This creates a “lost generation” of graduates whose degrees may be devalued by their rushed and disjointed education.
Seeking a New Model: Between Memory and Reform
In this void, the search for a new model has begun. In October 2024, the Association of Former Militants and Supporters of the UNEEM presented a proposal to the Transition President for a new student structure. Their blueprint emphasizes principles of peace, responsibility, and dialogue—a conscious rejection of the AEEM’s legacy. The critical challenge for any new entity will be to establish legitimacy in the eyes of both students and the state. It must be robust enough to negotiate effectively with authorities yet disciplined enough to avoid the militancy that led to its predecessor’s downfall. This is a delicate balancing act, requiring a new culture of student leadership.
Mali’s universities stand at a crossroads. The state has successfully dismantled a source of violence but has not yet facilitated the rise of a constructive alternative. The current phase is one of fragile, imposed peace. The enduring challenge is to institutionalize this order while designing a legitimate, democratic channel for student representation. The goal must be a campus where calm does not equate to silence, and where students can advocate for their rights—to quality education, timely support, and dignified conditions—without resorting to the destructive tactics of the past. The future of Mali’s higher education, and the prospects of its youth, depend on this crucial reconstruction.
Joseph Amara Dembélé