Politics

Former Burkina Faso President Compaore, sentenced to life in prison for killing ‘best friend’ Sankara

Published

1 year ago

April 6, 2022

Former President of Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaore, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a military tribunal for the murder of his predecessor and ‘best friend’, Thomas Sankara, in a 1987 coup.

The tribunal ruled on Wednesday that Compaore and 13 others were guilty of plotting the assassination of the Marxist revolutionary, Sankara, in the palace coup.

The charismatic and well loved Sankara was gunned down in the nation’s capital, Ouagadougou, on October 15, 1987, at the age of 37, four years after he took power in a coup d’etat.

After taking out Sankara, Compaore went on to rule for 27 years before being ousted in another coup in 2014 and fled to Ivory Coast, where he is still believed to live.

Compaore was charged in absentia along with his former head of security, Hyacinthe Kafando, who was also sentenced to life imprisonment.

Blaise Compoare and Thomas Sankara were best of friends

Both have previously denied any involvement in Sankara’s death along with 12 other defendants accused of involvement in the plot, but in delivering its verdict, the tribunal said the prosecution had proven its case beyond every reasonable doubt.

“The court finds Blaise Compaoré and Hyacinthe Kafando guilty of attack on state security, complicity in murder and concealment of a corpse,” the tribunal said in its ruling.

Sankara, a former fighter pilot, was greatly loved by Burkinabés as
he won public support in the impoverished West African nation by selling off a government fleet of Mercedes, lowering the salaries of public servants, fighting corruption and forbidding first class state travel.

He also cut his own salary, refused to work with air conditioning and jogged through Ouagadougou unaccompanied, but his critics often said his reforms had curtailed freedom and did little to enrich the ordinary people.

Thomas Sankara was well loved by Burkinabes

Every October 15, workers, students, and activists gather around with white flowers marking the spot where Sankara was shot and killed, a testimony that he is still loved.

Related Topics:#COUP Blaise Compaore Featured Thomas Sankara

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Politics

Opposition party wins majority seats in Guinea Bissau’s parliament

Published

15 hours ago

June 9, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

After a thirteen months break in Guinea-Bissau’s parliament, the opposition coalition has won majority seats after the legislative elections held on Sunday.

Over 20 political parties and coalitions, including the former ruling PAIGC party and its rival MADEM G15, presented candidates for various constituencies across the country.

According to official results, the PAI Terra Ranka coalition, led by the former ruling PAIGC party, won 54 of 102 seats in Sunday’s poll, while the ruling Madem G15, won 28 seats.

The development alters the planned constitutional reforms of President Embalo which would have allowed him to consolidate power by ridding the country of its semi-presidential system.

Under the current political system, the majority party or coalition appoints the government but the president has the authority to dismiss it in certain circumstances, a situation that has led to political gridlock and infighting in the past.

The political stability of the country has been consistently threatened by military incursions with successful and failed coup attempts. The latest was in February 2022 when gunmen stormed a government compound where President Embalo was holding a cabinet meeting, in an attempt to stage a coup.

Politics

Algeria, Sierra Leone get non-permanent seat at UN Security Council

Published

3 days ago

June 7, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Algeria and Sierra Leone, have been elected as non-permanent members of the the United Nations’ Security Council for 2024-2025.

The two countries are part of the ten countries elected for two years in the Council outside the five power bloc countries— the United States, China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom.

The countries replace Albania, Brazil, Gabon, Ghana and the United Arab Emirates and will join Ecuador, Japan, Malta, Mozambique and Switzerland who were elected last year.

For Sierra Leone, it’s a return to the council after 53 years. Its Foreign Minister, David Francis said it was “a great day for this small, progressive and confident country…which has successfully transitioned from war to peace.”

Guyana and South Korea were also elected unchallenged while Slovenia handily beat Belarus for the only contested seat.

An official of rights agency, Human Rights Watch, Louis Charbonneau remarked that “the vote in the General Assembly shows why a competition for UN elections is essential” after Slovenia edged Belarus for the seat going to Eastern Europe and obtained 153 votes, against 38 in Belarus.

“UN member states have undoubtedly decided that Belarus’ grave human rights violations at home and attempts to cover up Russian atrocities in Ukraine disqualify it from serving on the Security Council, a crucial body for ensuring human rights. humans,” he added.

Algeria got 184 votes, South Korea 180 votes, Sierra Leone 188 votes and Guyana 191 in a single candidate votes for four seat reserved for Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America/Caribbean.

There has been a long debate about the place of Africa in international relations. At the inception of the United Nations, only four independent African countries represented the continent when 50 representatives of different countries met in San Francisco, California, in 1945 to complete the Charter of the United Nations.