Uniformed soldiers announced on Monday evening on national television that they had seized power in Burkina Faso, committing to a “return to constitutional order” within “a reasonable time”.
Soldiers gathered within the Patriotic Movement for Safeguarding and Restoration (MPSR), said they had overthrown President Roch Kaboré, because of his “manifest inability to deal effectively with the deterioration of the security situation”.
According to a press release read early Monday evening on national television by Captain Sidsoré Kader Ouédraogo on behalf of Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, “the Patriotic Movement for Safeguarding and Restoration (MPSR) which brings together all the components of the defense and security (FDS), decided to put an end to the power of Mr. Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, this January 24, 2022”, reported the Burkina Information Agency (AIB).
This decision was “taken for the sole purpose of allowing Burkina Faso to get back on the right track and to gather all its forces, in order to fight for its territorial integrity, its recovery and its sovereignty”, adds the press release.
The MPSR claimed that the operations took place “without bloodshed and violence”, adding that those arrested are being held in a safe place, with respect for their dignity.
He promised to “continue to respect his national and international commitments, particularly in the area of human rights” and undertook “to propose within a reasonable time, after consultation with the Forces vives, a timetable for a return to normal order. constitutional agreement accepted by all”.
The new authorities have announced several measures including the suspension of the Constitution and the dissolution of the government and the National Assembly, indicates AIB.
They also decided to establish a curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. and the closure of air and land borders from this Monday, January 24, 2022 at midnight.
In power since 2015, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré was re-elected in 2020 on the promise to make the anti-jihadist fight his priority.
Burkina Faso has been caught since 2015 in a spiral of violence attributed to armed jihadist groups, affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, which have killed more than 2,000 people in nearly seven years and forced 1.5 million people to flee their homes.
Demonstrations were organized on Saturday in several cities in Burkina Faso to denounce the deterioration of the security situation, followed the next day by mutinies in barracks. Soldiers mutinied on Sunday in several barracks in Burkina Faso, including those of Sangoulé Lamizana and Baba Sy, to demand the departure of army chiefs and “appropriate means” to fight against the jihadists.
Mutinies also took place at the Ouagadougou air base, as well as in Kaya and Ouahigouya, in northern Burkina where the majority of jihadist attacks are concentrated.
The Burkina news agency had previously indicated, citing concordant sources, that President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré had “been arrested and placed in solitary confinement”.
This seizure of power by the army provoked a series of reactions throughout the world. Thus, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, “strongly condemned” Monday in a press release the military “coup” committed in Burkina Faso, calling on their authors “to lay down their arms” and to protect “the physical integrity” of President Roch Marc Kaboré.
For his part, the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, recalled on Monday the EU’s commitment to respect for republican institutions and the constitutional order in Burkina Faso, after “reports of threats against President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré by elements of the armed forces”.
Also, the African Union has “strongly condemned the coup attempt against the democratically elected president” in Burkina Faso.
In a statement released on Monday, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat said he was following with “deep concern the very serious situation in Burkina Faso” and “strongly condemns the coup attempt against the democratically elected President “.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) affirmed, for its part, that it “is following with great concern the evolution of the political and security situation in Burkina Faso characterized since Sunday 23 January 2022 by a coup attempt”.
In a press release published on its official website, ECOWAS “condemns this act of extreme gravity which cannot be tolerated under the relevant regulatory provisions”.
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