Martial Law? (by Thom)

When was the last time an armed man got into your car and demanded you take him somewhere? Odd question; I know. It happened to me last week, though.
Travel in Mali is quite a bit different than it is in the US. When you travel town to town, you often have to stop at police checkpoints. 98% of the time they just wave you through; they’re mostly there to tax the commercial vehicles. However, they occasionally stop you and ask for things like a driver’s license or your car papers. As I was leaving Koutiala last week, I was pulled over at the police checkpoint. The officer asked me where I was going. “Bamako”, I replied. He said, “Good, this man will go with you.” At that point, a man dressed in military fatigues hopped in my back seat with a very large duffel bag. He also asked if I was going to Bamako, to which I replied: yes. He said he was going to go with me. I was very confused. I had never heard of this happening, although it didn’t really surprise me. I can honestly say I wasn’t afraid of the situation, but I was very uncomfortable with the uncertainty of it all.
We drove down the road a while, eventually arriving at another police checkpoint. Again, I was pulled over. This was already a personal record. Two stops in one day! The officer never once made eye contact with me. He came up to the car, saluted the officer in the back, and then started yelling at him that he had to wear a seat belt. I had never noticed, but he didn’t put it on. The checkpoint officer then waved me through. I drove a few kilometers and noticed the man in the back still didn’t have his belt on. I asked him and he said it wasn’t working. It turns out he was right. I had a flat tire a week ago, and the equipment to change a tire is located below the seat. The lower part of the seatbelt had fallen below, so I stopped the car and helped him get it right. Aside from the time he asked me where I was going, these were the only words he said to me the entire 4 ½ hour trip!
We continued down the road and after going through Segou (Mali’s second largest city, and about half-way between Koutiala and Bamako) I was stopped again at a checkpoint! The officer came up, asked where I was going, and then said, “I’m going with you.” At this point, I didn’t know what to do. My car was full of things I was bringing back for someone else, and there was only one seat free to start with and that was taken by the first military officer. The first officer said this to the new man, but the guy said, “Make room”. He then crawled over the first man and sat in the backseat – half of him on the seat and half of him on the first guy! They rode like that, in complete silence, the rest of the 2 ½ hour trip!
I’ve since found out that this isn’t unusual, but it made me appreciate our traveling freedoms in the US all the more. I’ve also learned that because I am the owner of the vehicle, they won’t speak to me unless I first speak to them. I didn’t know this beforehand, and I didn’t want to talk to them and be impolite. The next time, I’m looking forward to leaning about the men in my car!