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============ The World will need only One President.

So Peace can be. The Time will come... (born June 4, 1915, Bamako, French Sudan—died May 16, 1977, Bamako, Mali) First president of Mali (1960–68). Keita was instrumental in obtaining independence for Mali (then called French Sudan) from France (1960). As president, he nationalized key sectors of the economy and established close ties with communist countries. During an economic crisis in 1967 he launched an unpopular Maoist-inspired cultural revolution, and in 1968 he was overthrown and imprisoned for life. Modibo KEITA 1915-1977 Political life In October 1946, the African Democratic Rally (RDA) was created in Bamako, which was led by Felix Houphouet-Boigny. Keita assumed the post of RDA Secretary-General in French Sudan. In 1948, he was elected general councilor of French Sudan. In 1956, he was elected mayor of Bamako and became a member of the National Assembly of France. He twice served as secretary of state in the governments of Maurice Bourges-Maunoury and Felix Gaillard. Modibo Keita was elected constituent assembly president of the Mali Federation on July 20, 1960, which consisted of French Sudan, and Senegal. Senegal would later leave the federation. President of Mali After the collapse of the federation, the US-RDA proclaimed the Soudanese Republic's complete independence as the Republic of Mali. Keita became its first president. As a socialist, he led his country towards the progressive socialization of the economy; at first starting with agriculture and trade, then on October 1960 creating the SOMIEX (Malian Import and Export Company), which had a monopoly over the exports of the products of Mali, as well as manufactured and food imports (e.g. sugar, tea, powdered milk) and their distribution inside the country. The establishment of the Malian franc in 1962, and the difficulties of provisioning, resulted in a severe inflation and dissatisfaction of the population, particularly the peasants and the businessmen. Although Keita was initially viewed by the United States as a socialist, he made it clear that he sought good relations with Washington. In September 1961, he travelled to America in the company of Sukarno and met with President John F. Kennedy. Keita, afterward, felt that he had a friend in Kennedy. On the political level, Modibo Keita quickly imprisoned opponents like Fily Dabo Sissoko. From 1967, he started the "revolution active" and suspended the constitution by creating the National Committee for the Defense of the Revolution (CNDR). The exactions of the "milice populaire" (the US-RDA militia) and the devaluation of the Malian franc in 1967 brought a general unrest. On November 19, 1968, the General Moussa Traore organized a coup d'etat against Modibo Keita, and sent him to prison in the northern Malian town of Kidal. Modibo Keita killed by injection in prison on May 16, 1977. His reputation was rehabilitated in 1992 following the overthrow of Moussa Traore and subsequent elections of president Alpha Oumar Konare.A monument for Modibo Keita, was dedicated in Bamako on June 6, 1999. As a Panafricanist Modibo Keita devoted his entire life to African unity. He first played a part in the creation of the Federation of Mali with Leopol Cedar Senghor. After its collapse, he moved away from Leopold Sedar Senghor, but with Sekou Toure the president of Guinea, and Kwame Nkrumah, the President of Ghana, he formed the Union of the States of Western Africa. In 1963, he played an important role in drafting the charter of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). In 1963, he invited the king of Morocco and the president of Algeria to Bamako, in the hope of ending the "war sands", a frontier conflict between the two nations. Along with Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Keita was successful in negotiating the Bamako Accords, which brought an end to the conflict. From 1963 to 1966, he normalized relations with the countries of Senegal, Upper Volta and Cote d'Ivoire. An advocate of the Non-Aligned Movement, Modibo defended the nationalist movements like the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN).