Politics

Burkina Faso: Military junta not in hurry to leave. Here’s why

Published

2 years ago

March 3, 2022

Reports out of Burkina Faso say the country’s ruling junta, the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR), has signed a charter setting a three-year transition period before the country holds elections.

The development comes just over a month after the coup leaders successfully toppled the country’s elected president Roch Marc Kaboré.

“The duration of the transition is set at 36 months from the date of the inauguration of the president,” according to the transition charter signed by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who replaced former president Roch Marc Christian Kabore in late January.

The coup that brought the current junta into power in Burkina Faso was launched on 23 January 2022 when gunfire erupted in front of the presidential residence in the Burkinabé capital Ouagadougou and several military barracks around the city.

Soldiers were reported to have seized control of the military base in the capital. However, the then sitting government of President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré denied there was an ongoing coup in the country. On 24 January, the military announced on television that President Kaboré had been removed from the seat of power. After the announcement, the military declared that the parliament, government and constitution had been dissolved. The coup d’état was led by military officer Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.

The meetings to broker a new civil government also involved political parties, unions, youth and women, as well as people displaced by the jihadist attacks that have hit Burkina Faso since 2015.

The charter also stipulates that the president of the transition “is not eligible for the presidential, legislative and municipal elections which will be organized to put an end to the transition.”

That provision also applies to the 25 members of the transitional government.

The charter specifies that one of the main missions of the transition is “to fight against terrorism, restore the integrity of the national territory”.

It also aims to “provide an effective and urgent response to the humanitarian crisis and the socio-economic dramas and community caused by insecurity” and “strengthen governance and the fight against corruption”.

The current junta in Burkina Faso had announced the approval of a “fundamental act” that “lifts the suspension of the constitution”, a move that had been declared after the January 24 coup.

The declaration guarantees the independence of the judiciary and presumption of innocence, as well as basic liberties spelled out in the constitution such as freedom of movement and freedom of speech, according to the statement.

The Burkina Faso coup is the latest in the new wave of coups in Africa. In 2021 alone, the continent witnessed 6 different coup attempts across African states, first in Central Africa Republic in January, Mali in May, Tunisia in July, Guinea in September and a double attempt in Sudan in September and October to end the coup cycle for the year.

Related Topics:Burkina Faso Christian Kabore Sandaogo Damiba

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Politics

Coup: Regional bloc, ECOWAS might intervene in Sierra Leone ‘if need be’

Published

12 hours ago

November 29, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Amidst a wave of military coups in the West African sub-region, a delegation of the ECOWAS Commission has hinted at likely bloc intervention in Sierra Leone following a failed coup over the weekend.

A chief of the commission and officials of the Nigerian government were received by Sierra Leone’s President, Julius Maada Bio, after Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the head of the 15-member sub-regional bloc, sent a message to Bio through Omar Alieu Touray, the head of the Ecowas Commission.

Gunmen last week exchanged fire for several hours with security forces in what the government attributed to “renegade soldiers.” Meanwhile, the police promised a “reward” to anyone providing information leading to the capture of 34 suspected fugitives.

“ECOWAS is ready and committed to supporting the people of Sierra Leone, including to strengthen their national security and the deployment, if need be, of regional elements,” Touray said.

The visit by the envoys appears to be a show of support for the government of Sierra Leone in the wake of the fatal attack that rocked the country’s capital, Freetown, on Sunday.

ECOWAS commended Bio’s and his government’s leadership in putting an end to what he described as a “very unfortunate incident.”

Concern has been raised by the wave of coups that have swept through Africa in the last three years, particularly in the West African bloc. The bloc has seen military takeovers of democratically elected governments in 2023 in Niger and Gabon, where troops removed Mohamed Bazzoum and Ali Bongo, respectively.

Politics

Another Tunisian opposition leader, Moussi begins hunger strike in prison

Published

12 hours ago

November 29, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Another Tunisian opposition leader, Abir Moussi has begun a hunger strike in prison to protest what her lawyers described as a violation of her rights to freedom and political activity.

Moussi, who is a prominent opponent of Tunisian President, Kais Saied, was last month sentenced after police arrested her at the presidential palace entrance on suspicion of assault intended to cause chaos, viewed as part of a crackdown on opposition politicians by some watchers.

In a statement, her party, the Free Constitutional Party (PDL), cautioned against “attempts to fabricate legal obstacles to remove her from participating in the presidential elections” that are anticipated to take place the following year.

In a statement, her attorneys said that Moussi would go on a 16-day hunger strike to draw attention to the issue of violence against women in Tunisia. She is an advocate of the late president Zine El Abidine ben Ali, whose overthrow in 2011 was brought about by widespread demonstrations; an uprising subsequently extended throughout the Middle East, dubbed “the Arab Spring”.

In a similar move in September, embattled Tunisian opposition leader, Rached Ghannouchi, who has been a political prisoner since April, also threatened to begin a hunger strike in captivity.

Moussi faces charges of plotting against state security alongside other opposition figures who are in jail. She had accused Saied of staging a coup in order to close the elected parliament and impose rule by decree.

President Saied has been accused of suppressing dissenting voices in the nation since taking office. This year, the police has detained over 20 political figures, including Ghannouchi, on suspicion of trying to compromise national security.

More than 20 prominent politicians have been detained by police this year; some are a accused of being involved in plots against state security. “Terrorists, traitors, and criminals” is how Saied has characterised the people under arrest.