According to the new constitution, which was accepted with 96.91 percent “yes” votes in the popular vote held in Mali on June 18 and was also accepted by the constitutional court, French ceases to be an official language.
According to the text of the new constitution, French will be used as the working language from now on. The 13 national languages spoken in the country will also receive official language status.
Mali, a former French colony, has used French as its official language since it gained independence in 1960.
In the country where approximately 70 local languages are spoken, “Bambara”, “Bobo”, “Bozo”, “Dogon”, “Fulanice”, “Maure”, “Miniyanka”, “Malinke”, “Sarakole”, “Sonrhai”, “Senoufo”, “Khassonke” and “Tamashek” languages received national language status with a decree issued in 1982.