Torn from the affection of his family and the Republic on March 21, 2009 at the age of 85, Mamadou El Béchir Gologo continues to transmit his ideals to new generations through his works, two of which were dedicated posthumously on June 8, 2024 at the Memorial Modibo Keita. These are “Repères” and “Morikè and Baba Tièman”, two books published by the “Figuira” editions of Fatoumata Kéita (emblematic figure of women’s literature in Mali) in partnership with the Repères Association. Beautiful testimonies of the patriotic commitment of a leader who never made concessions when it came to defending his convictions.
«Landmarks» et «Moriké and Father Tieman» ! These are two posthumous works dedicated on June 15, 2024 to the “Modibo Keita Memorial“. Posthumous messages that Mamadou El Béchir Gologo addresses to Malian and even African youth, 15 years after his disappearance. These are also works dedicated to his friends and fellow prisoners in prison in 1979. “Landmarks» is an essay (170 pages) divided into 5 parts. The very committed writer evokes the advent of the young Republic of Mali, the battles fought upstream to achieve independence, the pitfalls, the obstacles overcome… to free Mali from the colonial yoke; the causes and consequences of the breakup of the Mali Federation…
As for “Morikè and Father Tieman», it is an initiatory account (taken from the end of a manuscript) with characters. For the publisher, Fatoumata Kéita (promoter of Figuira Editions), the dedicated works highlight the “constant concerns for the homeland” and “the timelessness of ideals” of the author. “There is an appeal that he is launching towards young people. For him, the present and the future belong to youth», recalled Diadié Yacouba Danioko, former collaborator of the author. Speaking of “Landmarks“, he recalled “it is a testimony to what was done by the men and women who created Mali. And today, when we’re talking about Mali Kura, we’re talking about a new beginning. And this book can inspire the men and women who will have the difficult task of building this Mali Kura»
«Through the struggles of his life, Mamadou El Béchir proved that politics finds its nobility not in the opportunism which follows the dominant waves, but in the existence of justice which, most often and against the tide, must to convince a people», Underlined Yaya Gologo, representative of the family. And to remind, “the man of memory that he was, was never nostalgic, never backward-looking…“. The audience learned a lot from the anecdotes taken from “Landmarks» such as for example that of the day of the raising of the flag of the Federation of Mali. Indeed, he was mounted upside down, the Kanaga in the middle, thus performing an acrobatics, which certainly few stilt walkers and wearers of Dogon masks would dare…
«This anecdote, told in other words, which you will discover while reading the work, deserves our full attention. We, who often forget our superstitions, even reject them, in favor of others who, if we look more closely, have nothing to do with us, and therefore cannot arouse that little something. Moreover, in his work the author, in another superbly reported anecdote, shows us without shame or complex, these cultural differences between peoples…», recalls Assétou Gologo known as Tétou, daughter of her father because a young lady very committed to the homeland.
«These reference works for young people tell a part of their life, of Mali or even of Africa… They constitute a sort of heritage for young people, for those who really want to work for Mali and Africa», indicates Tétou. “These two works reflect his professionalism, his lucidity and his sincerity. My father was a very courageous man who always fought with conviction for his ideas“, she remembers.
«I also think that these works will be honored elsewhere, because they deserve it. Mali and Malians also need to absorb it and, believe me, even if I am proud to be the daughter of the author, that is not the reason for my activism», assures Assétou who is also a talented craftswoman specializing in the creation of pearl jewelry.
It is with legitimate pride that she speaks of her illustrious father, a faithful companion of President Modibo Kéita torn from our affection in 2009. “Mamadou El Béchir Gologo was a patriot overflowing with sincerity and lucidity, an eternal library… He remains rooted in Mali“. In front of the press, she did not fail to “thank everyone who contributed to the success of the event“. And to add “bravo and deep respect to the deceased who, once again, showed and demonstrated his version of patriotism“. In the daughter’s opinion, the father placed “very high» the bar of patriotism. In fact, he made it a summary of “courage and sincerity, faith and hope, commitment and determination… All these things which are not transmitted by genes, but which we inspire through our choices, our actions, our attitudes and the awareness that we put it».
It should be remembered that Dr Mamadou El Béchir Gologo died on March 21, 2009, following a long illness. A graduate of the prestigious William Ponty Normal School in Dakar, he subsequently attended, among others, the Dakar School of Medicine where he graduated with his medical diploma before enlisting in the French colonial army. . When France was liberated in 1949, he returned to French Sudan (now Mali) to practice his profession as a doctor. Bitten by the political bug, he first became a trade unionist, then a founding member of the Sudanese Union of the African Democratic Rally (US-RDA), the party which led French Sudan to independence in 1960. Minister of Information from the young Republic of Mali, he was deported to the Taoudenit penal colony after the military coup of 1968. It was only three years later (1971) that he regained his freedom.
«Dr Mamadou El Béchir Gologo gave a lesson in humility and wisdom in Mali; he carried the US-RDA and Mali in his heart. A Mali that he carried high in the inexorable destiny of peoples and nations», testified Dr Badra Aliou Macalou, then Secretary General of the US-RDA in his funeral oration on March 23, 2009. It should be noted that Dr Gologo remained honorary president of the US-RDA until his death .
It should also be noted that, before his physical disappearance, Mamadou El Béchir’s bibliography was already rich in reference works such as “The Survivor of the Ethylos» (378 pages, African Presence, 1963), «China, a giant people with a great destiny» (Published by Librairie du Nouveau Monde, Beijing, 1964), «African tornado» (poetry/1966), «Moudaïna» (social criticism/1995), «My heart remains a volcano» (poetry collection of 116 pages/January 1999)… His posthumous works, “Landmarks» et «Morikè and Father Tieman“, are on sale in local bookstores at a unit price of 15,000 CFA francs. Buying them for yourself or as a gift is the best tribute that can be paid today to this committed intellectual who had his country at heart.
Moussa Bolly
