Mali’s National Transitional Council ratified an ordinance widening the grounds and personal scope of deprivation of nationality, according to accounts published on 23 October. All 119 members present supported the measure at the vote on 22 October.
The principal change is that Malians by origin can now fall under a sanction previously reserved to naturalised citizens. The grounds include allegiance to a foreign state, collaboration with organisations deemed hostile, secessionist or terrorist, and participation in, financing or advocacy of terrorism.
The prohibition on making someone stateless remains important. In practical terms, it limits the measure’s application to Malians by origin who possess another nationality. Deprivation is pronounced through a decree adopted in the Council of Ministers on the justice minister’s report, according to APA’s account of the legal framework.
The vote ratifies an existing ordinance rather than marking the reform’s first enactment. Cabinet approved the draft on 17 July, and the ordinance was issued on 13 August 2026. Reporting that presents the October vote as the beginning of the entire regime therefore compresses a process already several months old.
The distinction also matters substantively: earlier law already contained separate provisions allowing some Malians by origin to lose nationality. This reform broadens the specific deprivation regime and the conduct it covers.