Burkina Faso’s former president Blaise Compaoré returned to his country on Thursday for the first time since his exile in 2014 following a popular uprising.
Blaise Compaoré, 71, was from his forced exile in Côte d’Ivoire, who was traveling from Abidjan in a plane made available to him by the Ivorian presidency, landed at the Ouagadougou military base shortly before 2:00 p.m. (GMT and local ), report media on site.
It is the first time that the former president has set foot on his country’s soil since he was forced into exile in Côte d’Ivoire in October 2014, after violent popular riots which broke out against his will. remain in power after 27 years of rule.
It is a stay of a few days at the invitation of Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, author of a coup d’etat in January which overthrew President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré.
Like the former Burkinabè presidents still alive, Mr. Compaoré must participate in a meeting to “accelerate national reconciliation” in the face of the jihadist attacks which have bloodied Burkina Faso since 2015 and have multiplied in recent months.
Friday’s meeting between the Heads of State is notably organized to “pool energies and synergies (…) to fight effectively against the tragedy that strikes us”, indicated the government spokesperson.
In addition to Blaise Compaoré, president from 1987 to 2014, are also invited to this meeting Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo (1982-1983), Isaac Zida who had briefly taken power in 2014 and currently in exile in Canada, Michel Kafando (2014-2015) and Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, elected in 2015 and overthrown in January.
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