Amadou Sanogo Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo ( born 1972 or 1973 ) is a Malian military officer and the leader of the 2012 Malian coup d ' état against President Amadou Toumani Toure . He proclaimed himself the leader of the National Committee for Recovering Democracy and Restoring the State ( CNRDRE ) . Sanogo was also said to be involved in the arrest and resignation of acting Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra , leading to the appointment of former civil servant and Secretary - General to the Presidency Django Sissoko as prime minister . According to Human Rights Watch , Sanogo ’ s forces have been implicated in serious human rights abuses including torture , sexual abuse , and intimidation against journalists and family members of detained soldiers . Early and personal life . Sanogo is one of six children born to Mamadou Sanogo and his wife . Amadou Sanogo is nicknamed " Bolly " by relatives . Sanogo comes from Ségou , one of Mali ' s largest cities on the Niger River . Sanogo has spent 22 years in the military . Before the coup , Sanogo had held a mid - level army position . A participant in the International Military Education and Training program , he received training " at training programmes in the United States , in Georgia and at the Marine Corps base in Quantico , Virginia " , but his American instructors " never marked him out as future leadership material " . He also studied English at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas . CRNDRE . His first actions as " de facto " head of state included suspending the constitution and activities of some organizations , as well as declaring a curfew and closing the borders . Though the rationale for the coup had been Amadou Toumani Toure ' s alleged mismanagement of the 2012 Tuareg rebellion , the Malian military lost control of the regional capitals of Kidal , Gao , and Timbuktu within ten days of Sanogo ' s assuming office , leading " Reuters " to describe the coup as " a spectacular own - goal " . On 4 April , " The New York Times " reported that he was trying to deflect attention from the coup to the struggles in the north , telling a reporter , " We should forget a little the Committee , the Parliament , the Constitution — that can wait . The serious topic , it ’ s the north . That ’ s the most important . " Following the economic sanctions and a blockade by the Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS ) on the country , a deal , brokered in Burkina Faso by President Blaise Compaoré under the auspices of ECOWAS , was signed that would see Sanogo cede power to Dioncounda Traoré assume the presidency in an interim capacity until an election is held . After the new interim president Dioncounda Traoré and prime minister cheick Modibo Diarra took office , the junta led by Sanogo made it clear that they are stepping aside only temporarily and that the junta will retain supervisory role until the elections . ECOWAS gave the interim government one year to hold elections . On 24 November , Sanogo joined Malian religious leaders to speak at a Bamako rally against religious extremism . On 11 December 2012 , the prime minister Modibo Diarra was arrested by Sanogo ' s junta , and forced to resign . The move , which was condemned by Ecowas , was followed the same day by the appointment of Django Sissoko as new Mali prime minister .