In 1977, Ndaw became a member of the
Malian Air Force. He retired with the rank of Colonel-major. On 28 May 2014, Ndaw succeeded
Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga as Minister of Defense under President
Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. During his time in office he signed a defense agreement with France. He also worked on a reorganization of the Malian Armed Forces. A spokesperson for political-religious leader
Mahmoud Dicko praised his nomination as president. Upon becoming president, he refused to grant his wife the title of First Lady to prevent family members from being involved in public affairs. After officially assuming office Ndaw stated he would fight against corruption, electoral fraud and to respect previously made international agreements. Following Ndaw's inauguration,
Jean-Claude Brou, the President of
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, stated that ECOWAS would only lift the embargo against Mali if a civilian Prime Minister was appointed by Ndaw. While he was president tensions were high between his government and the military since the handover of power in September. This led to rebel soldiers arresting Keïta and Cissé at gunpoint. The opposition M5 movement, which had spearheaded the
2020 Malian protests against Keïta, publicly called for the interim government to be dissolved and replaced with a "more legitimate" one. On 14 May, the government announced plans for a new, "broad-based" cabinet. The next day, the
UN Secretary-General
António Guterres called for their immediate release. On 26 May, Ndaw announced his resignation. == Post-presidency (2021-present) ==