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Deposed Burkina Faso junta leader, Damiba agrees to resign, flees to Togo

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Ousted Burkina Faso military junta leader, Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, has offered to resign in what his spokesman said is to “avoid confrontations with serious human and material consequences.”

Damiba who was overthrown on Friday in a coup led by Captain Ibrahim Traore and a group of junior military officers, agreed to step down on Sunday evening after two days of stand off, and has reportedly fled the country to neighbouring Togo despite assurances by Traore that he would not be prosecuted.

The coup was the second in one year after Damiba himself had led a putsch in January where he overthrew former President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.

The agreement was reached following mediation by influential religious and community leaders who held talks between Damiba and Traore aimed at resolving the crisis.

Spokesman for the mediation team, Hamidou Yameogo, said the team was able to convince Damiba to step down for the good of the nation.

Yameogo said during the mediation talks, Damiba himself laid down seven conditions for stepping down, which included “a guarantee of security for his allies in the military, a guarantee of his security and rights, and assurances that those taking power will respect the pledge he gave to West Africa’s regional bloc for a return to civilian rule within two years,” before agreeing to leave the country for Togo.

In a statement broadcast on state television on Sundaynight, new military spokesman, Captain Kiswendsida Farouk Azaria Sorgho, said Traore has been officially named head of state after he accepted the conditions given by Damiba, calling on “the population to exercise calm, restraint and prayer.”

The statement said Traore would remain in charge “until the swearing-in of the president of Burkina Faso designated by the nation’s active forces” at an unspecified date.

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South Sudan’s finance minister Bak Barnaba Chol fired

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President Salva Kiir of South Sudan has dismissed Bak Barnaba Chol, the Minister of Finance and Planning, and appointed engineer Daniel Daniel Chuong in his place.

 

Kiir removed the Finance Minister without providing a reason in a presidential decree that was published in South Sudan’s capital, Juba.

 

Before his appointment, the new finance minister was the petroleum ministry’s technical adviser and the previous minister of petroleum.

 

The country’s local currency, the South Sudanese pound (SSP), was depreciating at the same time as the changes were implemented, causing hyperinflation.

 

Three months ago, the SSP was worth 1,100 units against the US dollar; three months later, it was worth a record low of 1,800 units.

 

To secure hard currency and stabilize the economy, the nation is currently struggling to raise daily oil production from the current 150,000 barrels per day to 175,000 barrels per day.

 

South Sudan is currently in a dangerous situation. UN reports state that local violence between different armed groups and factions is on the rise.

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Senegal: opposition figure Sonko promises new national currency if party wins election

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Controversial Senegalese opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, said the country would consider the implementation of
reform of the West Africa region’s CFA franc currency at a regional level first, and if that failed, would consider creating a national currency, if his preferred candidate, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, wins the next presidential election.

Faye is one of the main candidates in Senegal’s March 24 presidential election. He is backed by the popular firebrand Sonko, who was disqualified from the race over a defamation conviction.

Sonko made the promise while speaking at a joint press conference with Faye, shortly after both politicians were released from jail.

It appeared the comment was aimed at easing concerns after their election campaign, which promised to introduce the new currency if Faye won.

“We will try to implement a monetary reform at the sub-regional level first,” Sonko said. “If that fails, we will decide as a nation.”

Sonko alleged that the CFA franc currency, which is pegged to the euro and used by eight countries of the West Africa Monetary Union, affects economic development in the region, and the time is right to explore more options.

“There’s no sovereignty if there is no monetary sovereignty,” said Faye, speaking at the same press conference.

To be declared the winner in a presidential poll, a candidate must secure the signatures of 0.8% to 1% of the voting public. At least 2,000 sponsors must be secured for each of Senegal’s fourteen regions, where a minimum of seven signatures are required.

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