The president of Ghana alleged thatBurkina Faso had employed Wagner mercenaries from Russia to assist in fighting armed groups.
The president of Ghana claimed that Burkina Faso’s northern neighbour had paid Russian mercenaries by granting them access to a mine, but the country’s minister of mines has refuted this claim.
“We have not granted any permit to a Russian company in southern Burkina,” Minister of Mines Simon Pierre Boussim told reporters on Tuesday, after a meeting with civil society groups that were concerned about the allegations.
Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo caused controversy by stating last week that Burkina Faso had hired mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner group to help it fight armed non-state actors.
“I believe a mine in southern Burkina has been allocated to them as a form of payment for their services,” Akufo-Addo said, speaking to reporters alongside the United States’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the US-Africa Summit.
Burkina Faso’s government has not formally confirmed or denied the allegation that it has made an agreement with Wagner, but it summoned the Ghanaian ambassador for a meeting on Friday to explain the president’s remarks.
“We made a list of all the exploitation or research permits for large industrial mines in the south, so they can see clearly that there is no hidden site,” Boussim said.
The Burkinabe government did recently award a new exploration permit to Russian firm Nordgold for a gold mine in Yimiougou, in the centre-north region, Boussim said, but the company has been active in Burkina Faso for more than 10 years.
Burkina Faso’s neighbour Mali hired Wagner last year to help it fight armed groups in the Sahel. The prospect of the group expanding its presence in Africa has troubled Western countries such as France and the United States, who say it exploits mineral resources and commits human rights abuses in countries where it operates.
In two separate strikes on Saturday in northern and eastern Burkina Faso, at least two Burkinabe soldiers and six civilians were murdered, according to information obtained by AFP on Monday from local and security sources.
The first attack took place near Bouroum, in the northern province of Namentenga, where “a team of defense and security forces (FDS) on a mission hit an improvised explosive device,” a security source told AFP.
“Unfortunately, two soldiers were killed and five wounded who were evacuated for appropriate care,” the source said.
The second attack, also on Saturday, occurred in the village of Kokodé, on the Tendokogo-Bittou road, in the east-central part of the country, near Ghana.
“Armed individuals intercepted a public transport bus, also causing casualties,” the security source said.
Another securitysource said “six civilians were killed by the assailants, who also robbed the bus passengers.
“Among the victims is an important economic operator in the region,” said a member of the union of traders in the region, confirming the toll of the attack.
Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been regularly plagued by jihadist attacks that have killed thousands and forced some two million people to flee their homes.
These attacks by groups linked to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda targeting military and civilians have increased in recent months, mainly in the north and east of the country.
Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the transitional president who emerged from a military coup on September 30 — the second in eight months — has set himself the goal of “reconquering the territory occupied by these terrorist hordes.
Between December 1 and 10, 39 “terrorists” were killed in an anti-jihadist operation conducted in northwestern Burkina Faso, the army said.
Called “Feleho” or “take back one’s property” in the local Bwamou language, this operation aimed at “securing the Banwa province” in the Boucle du Mouhoun region (north, bordering Mali), made it possible to liberate a dozen localities under siege by armed groups, according to the army.
The remarks made by President Akufo-Addo against the Wagner group in neighboring Burkina Faso will be investigated by parliament, according to Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu.
“I have information that our Ranking Member of Foreign Affairs, and members on the Foreign Affairs Committee will ask for details briefly to parliament on this reckless, irresponsible, unprofessional statement by the President of our Republic. If he cannot provide us with food, he should not let them bring guns on us as a country,” the Minority Leader said in an address at the NDC’s 10th Delegates Congress ongoing at the Accra Sports Stadium.
He further accused the President of creating foreign policy crisis for Ghana.
“He’s simply failed momentarily to have impulse control and to ensure balance between foreign policy and the security of our state when he openly condemned Burkina Faso and mentioned the Wagner group of Russia.
Burkina Faso summoned the Ghanaian ambassador on Friday morning for “explanations” after Ghana’s president alleged that Burkina Faso had hired the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Burkina Faso’s foreign ministry said.
Speaking to reporters alongside U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday, Akufo-Addo also alleged that Burkina Faso had offered Wagner a mine as payment.
In a statement issued after the meeting with the ambassador, Burkina Faso’s foreign ministry said it had “expressed disapproval” about the statements made by the Ghanaian president.
“Ghana could have undertaken exchanges with the Burkinabe authorities on the security issue in order to have the right information,” it said.
However, it did not confirm or deny the allegations. In a separate message to Reuters, the foreign ministry spokesperson said, without elaborating: “In any case, Burkina has not called on Wagner”.
Burkina Faso also recalled its ambassador from Ghana for a meeting, the spokesperson said.
Burkinabe authorities have not commented publicly on whether or not they are working with Wagner, a mercenary group that was hired in neighbouring Mali to help fight Islamist militants.
Meanwhile, Security Analyst, Adib Saani has questioned the propriety of the comments made by Ghana’s Leader, Akufo-Addo on the Wagner Group.
Commenting on the fallout from the development, Adib Saani said since independence, Ghana has maintained a non-aligned posture in the global political chess games between the East and the West thus “Our decision not to take sides has helped us gain respect and favor from both sides of the divide.”
He opined “But it’s absolutely demeaning for the President, flanked by his ministers, to sit infront of a Secretary of State to report on Wagner, a group that has not in any way neither threatened to invade Ghana, nor has it done anything that poses any threat to the security of Ghana.”
Saani who is also Head of the Jatikay Centre for Human Security and Peace Building maintained that Burkina Faso is a sovereign country and can decide to call on whoever to help it fight any threat to their nation.
“When Ghana hosted the Americans through the defence cooperation agreement, no country in the sub-region complained. So why does our President make such a mockery of us by going to report on an issue that has nothing to do with us hence, bring us international disrepute,” he questioned.
Tensions are rising between Burkina Faso and neighbouring Ghana following Ghana’s claim that Ouagadougo had invited Russian mercenaries into the country.
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo made the comments last Wednesday sparking a diplomatic row.
“These 48 hours were marked by the words of Ghana’s president Nana Akufo Addo on an alleged contract between the transitional government and a private Russian company. Faced with such a situation, the logical thing to do was to urgently summon the Ghanaian ambassador in Ouagadougou, but also our ambassador in Accra for consultation”, said Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré, Burkina Faso’s Deputy Minister for Regional Cooperation.
Faced with jihadist attacks since 2015, Burkina Faso has been increasing ties with Russia in a bid to defeat the rebels.
“As for our ambassador in Accra, he reported to us as soon as these remarks were made. So we also invited him for consultation so that we could examine together what action would be taken on this matter. In any case, a verbal note of protest was sent to the Republic of Ghana via its national representation in Burkina Faso”, added the Deputy Minister for Regional Cooperation.
Moscow has been actively courting public opinion on social media and enjoys growing popular support in several French-speaking African countries as France, the former colonial power, is increasingly reviled.
According to a minister speaking to the BBC, Russia’s presence in West Africa is “neither constructive nor helpful,” and Britain is worried about the Russian mercenaries operating there.
During his visit to the area, UK Development Minister Andrew Mitchell reaffirmed his country’s commitment to assisting West African coastal nations stop the movement of militants from the Sahel and maintain general security.
He has, however, also voiced concern over how “very difficult” it has been to communicate security-related issues with the Burkina Faso government.
In order to evaluate Ghana’s capacity to fend off the jihadists, Mr. Mitchell has been visiting a military base in the northern part of the country.
It comes after Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo said Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group have been operating near the country’s northern border with Burkina Faso.
He described Wagner’s presence as “distressing” during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week.
He alleged that the military junta in Burkina Faso had hired Wagner mercenaries to help fight extremists and awarded them a mining concession as a form of payment. Burkina Faso has not commented on the claim.
In recent weeks, hundreds of people fleeing militants attacks in Burkina Faso have crossed the border into northern Ghana.
The military authorities in Burkina Faso have summoned Ghana’s ambassador after its neighbour alleged it had hired a Russian mercenary group.
Wagner Group’s presence was “distressing” said Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Burkina Faso has been struggling to contain Islamist militants who operate in many parts of the country.
Neighbouring Mali faces a similar challenge and is already widely believed to be working with Wagner.
Since Capt Ibrahim Traoré seized power in Burkina Faso in September, there had been widespread speculation that he might follow suit and start working with Russian mercenaries.
Both countries have already cut long-standing security ties with France, the former colonial power.
While visiting Ghana, the UK’s Minister for Development and Africa Andrew Mitchell said Britain was concerned about the activities of Russian mercenaries in West Africa.
Mr Mitchell told the BBC that Russia’s presence in the region was “neither constructive nor helpful.”
Capt Traoré has promised to win back territory from the jihadists, and to hold democratic elections in July 2024.
His government has also recalled the Burkinabe ambassador in Accra for a “consultation” over comments made by the Ghanaian president.
President Akufo-Addo, speaking on the sidelines of the US-Africa summit in Washington DC on Wednesday, said Ghana’s northern neighbour had made a deal with the mercenary group.
“Today, Russian mercenaries are on our northern border. Burkina Faso has now entered into an arrangement to go along with Mali in employing the Wagner forces there,” he said.
He also said that Burkina Faso had ceded a mine, reportedly with gold reserves, near the border with Ghana in exchange for the group’s services to deal with the militant insurgency that began in 2015.
In recent weeks, hundreds of people fleeing militants attacks in Burkina Faso have crossed the border into northern Ghana.
So far, there has not been any official confirmation about an agreement between the Wagner Group and Burkina Faso, even though Prime Minister Apollinaire Kyelem recently visited Russia.
The reports that Mali was working with Wagner fighters were one reason why France withdrew its forces from the country in August – after nearly a decade of helping to fight jihadist fighters in the country.
The details of any pact between Mali and the mercenary group, which has been accused of committing atrocities in the country, including killing civilians, remains unclear.
Jihadists attacks have continued in many parts of the country despite the presence of the Russian mercenaries, described as instructors by Mali’s military authorities.
Wagner also has fighters in Libya, Central African Republic and Mozambique.
Burkina Faso summoned the Ghanaian ambassador on Friday morning for “explanations” after Ghana’s president alleged that Burkina Faso had hired the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Burkina Faso’s foreign ministry said.
Speaking to reporters alongside U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday, Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo alleged that Burkina Faso had hired the mercenaries.
“Today, Russian mercenaries are on our northern border. Burkina Faso has now entered into an arrangement to go along with Mali in employing the Wagner forces there,” Akufo-Addo said, adding that it was a distressing development for Ghana.
Akufo-Addo also alleged that Burkina Faso had offered Wagner a mine as payment.
In a statement issued after the meeting with the ambassador, Burkina Faso’s foreign ministry said it had “expressed disapproval” about the statements made by the Ghanaian president.
“Ghana could have undertaken exchanges with the Burkinabe authorities on the security issue in order to have the right information,” it said.
The Government of Burkina Faso has reportedly recalled its ambassador to Ghana over President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s accusations that the country is hiring Russian mercenaries.
According to security analyst Adib Saani, who disclosed this to GhanaWeb, the Burkinabe government has also summoned Ghana’s ambassador to Burkina Faso to answer questions about President Akufo Addo‘s comments.
BBC Journalist Lalla Sy, who confirmed the move by the Burkinabe government, said that Burkina’s ambassador to Ghana was recalled for consultation over President Akufo-Addo’s accusations.
Lalla Sy, in a report on the BBC website, on December 16, 2022, said that Ghana’s ambassador to Burkina Faso was summoned for a meeting on Friday morning over the allegations Akufo-Addo made.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on the US government to help deal with the threat of Russian mercenaries on Ghana’s border with Burkina Faso.
According to the president, Ghana’s security apparatus has noticed the activities of these Russian mercenaries along its borders in the north who have been contracted by the Burkinabe government.
Addressing officials of the US government, including Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, at a meeting in Washington, Akufo-Addo said that the Burkinabe government had contracted these mercenaries to help them fight Islamic militants in their country and is paying them by giving them a mining concession.
“I think that beyond everything, there is a matter that I want to urge upon you. Today, Russian mercenaries are on our northern border. Burkina Faso has now entered into an arrangement to go along with Mali in employing the Wagner forces there.
“I believe a mine in southern Burkina has been allocated to them as a form of payment for their services. Prime minister of Burkina Faso in the last 10 days has been in Moscow. And to have them operating on our northern border is particularly distressing for us in Ghana,” he said.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on the US government to help deal with the threat of Russian mercenaries on Ghana’s border with Burkina Faso.
According to the president, Ghana’s security apparatus has noticed the activities of these Russian mercenaries along its borders in the north who have been contracted by the Burkinabe government.
Addressing officials of the US government, including Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, at a meeting in Washington, Akufo-Addo said that the Burkinabe government had contracted these mercenaries to help them fight Islamic militants in their country and is paying them by giving them a mining concession.
“I think that beyond everything, there is a matter that I want to urge upon you. Today, Russian mercenaries are on our northern border. Burkina Faso has now entered into an arrangement to go along with Mali in employing the Wagner forces there.
“I believe a mine in southern Burkina has been allocated to them as a form of payment for their services. Prime minister of Burkina Faso in the last 10 days has been in Moscow. And to have them operating on our northern border is particularly distressing for us in Ghana,” he said.
Akufo-Addo also stated that Ghana was against Russia’s occupation of Ukraine and the use of African countries as training grounds for foreign powers, particularly Russia.
“Apart from not accepting the idea of great powers once again making Africa their theater of operation, we have a particular position that you know about over the Ukraine war, where we have been very, very vocal and up front about condemning the invasion of Ukraine by Russia,” he said.
Mercenaries from the Russian company Wagner have reportedly been invited into neighbouring Burkina Faso, according to Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo.
He described the development as distressing while speaking with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken about it.
This occurs at a time when Ghana and other coastal nations in West Africa are growing more concerned about the spread of jihadist violence from the Sahel.
Russian mercenaries, according to President Akufo-Addo, were on Ghana’s northern border.
He said he understood that the Wagner group had been offered a mine in southern Burkina Faso as a form of payment for services – presumably fighting Islamist militants.
In a video of the meeting with the US secretary of state, Mr Akufo-Addo describes the development as particularly worrying seeing as Ghana strongly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He spoke of the dangerous proliferation of coups in West Africa adding that there were enemies of democracy working hard in the region.
The Sissalla West District Chief Executive (DCE), Ayisha Batong Hor, has expressed worry about the Burkinabes fleeing into the Ghanaian community of Fielmuo and Nemoro over suspected jihadist attacks.
Madam Hor told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Gwollu after the unusual movement of large numbers of people from Buro and other communities in Burkina-Faso bordering Ghana’s northern communities of Fielmuoh and Nemoro.
The DCE said reports from the affected communities indicated that the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) was providing support to the victims and had so far registered 796 people as refugees.
Mr Halidu Yahaya, the Sissala West District Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation also told the GNA that the movement of the people into the country started gradually and that normally they do so during the night.
He said: “The whole of Fielmuo is full of women, children and some men who fled Burkina Faso are confined in the community”.
The NADMO Coordinator said one of the migrants alleged that the suspected Jihadists burnt down a district assembly, a Police post, and a telephone pole in Burkina-Faso, which compelled them to start running toward Ghana as they did not know what could happen to them.
“Just this evening, some people also came to Fiemuoh and we understand those that have relatives in Tiwii, Mossiyiri, Fatchu, Pune, Buo, and Chetu are coming in their numbers but the 796 is what we had been able to record”, Mr Yahaya said.
He appealed to NGOs, and philanthropists, among others for food and shelter for the fleeing suspected refugees whom he said were running for their lives as women and children are the majority saying, “One of the fleeing women gave birth this morning.”
The Ghana News Agency later spoke to Imam Kamil B -Nasibie, the Imam of Nemoro, who said about 200 fled Buro, Nyebro all in Burkina-Faso and were currently perching and being sheltered by their relatives and others in Nemoro as they were afraid to return home. Several communities lying in Ghana’s Northern neighbour to Burkina Faso have ancestral relations with Sissala and the Dagaaba ethnic groups in both Ghana and Burkina Faso.
The Sissalla West District Chief Executive (DCE), Ayisha Batong Hor, has raised concern over Burkinabes escaping into the Ghanaian settlements of Fielmuo and Nemoro in response to alleged terrorist attacks.
Madam Hor told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Gwollu after the unusual movement of large numbers of people from Buro and other communities in Burkina-Faso bordering Ghana’s northern communities of Fielmuoh and Nemoro.
The DCE said reports from the affected communities indicated that the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) was providing support to the victims and had so far registered 796 people as refugees.
Mr Halidu Yahaya, the Sissala West District Coordinator of the National Disaster Management Organisation also told the GNA that the movement of the people into the country started gradually and that normally they do so during the night.
He said: “The whole of Fielmuo is full of women, children and some men who fled Burkina Faso are confined in the community”.
The NADMO Coordinator said one of the migrants alleged that the suspected Jihadists burnt down a district assembly, a Police post, and a telephone pole in Burkina-Faso, which compelled them to start running toward Ghana as they did not know what could happen to them.
“Just this evening, some people also came to Fiemuoh and we understand those that have relatives in Tiwii, Mossiyiri, Fatchu, Pune, Buo, and Chetu are coming in their numbers but the 796 is what we had been able to record”, Mr Yahaya said.
He appealed to NGOs, and philanthropists, among others for food and shelter for the fleeing suspected refugees whom he said were running for their lives as women and children are the majority saying, “One of the fleeing women gave birth this morning.”
The Ghana News Agency later spoke to Imam Kamil B -Nasibie, the Imam of Nemoro, who said about 200 fled Buro, Nyebro all in Burkina-Faso and were currently perching and being sheltered by their relatives and others in Nemoro as they were afraid to return home.
Several communities lying in Ghana’s Northern neighbour to Burkina Faso have ancestral relations with Sissala and the Dagaaba ethnic groups in both Ghana and Burkina Faso.
Radio France Internationale (RFI) has condemned the suspension of its broadcasts by Burkina Faso’s military government, calling accusations that it had aided “a desperate manoeuvre of terrorist groups” completely unfounded.
RFI’s management stated in a press release that the cut-off occurred without prior notice and without following the procedures outlined in the station’s broadcasting agreement with Burkina Faso’s Superior Council of Communication.
“The France Médias Monde Group will explore all avenues to restore RFI’s broadcasting, and recalls its unwavering commitment to the freedom to inform and to the professional work of its journalists,” the press release said.
Burkina Faso on Saturday ordered the immediate suspension of Radio France Internationale (RFI) broadcasts, accusing it of putting out a “message of intimidation” attributed to a “terrorist chief”.
It is the second West African country under military rule, after Mali, to take RFI off the airwaves this year.
RFI had contributed to “a desperate manoeuvre of terrorist groups” to dissuade thousands of Burkinabe citizens mobilised for the defence of the country, said Burkinabe government spokesman Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo.
At the beginning of the week, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Support Group for Islam and Muslims threatened in a video to attack villages defended by the pro-government VDP militia in Burkina Faso.
The VDP are civilian volunteers given two weeks’ military training to work alongside the army carrying out surveillance, information-gathering or escort duties.
The government had already, on November 3, protested the contents of the French broadcaster’s reports, said the government statement.
“Considering everything that has happened before, the government has decided on the immediate suspension, until further notice, of the broadcasting of Radio France Internationale’s programmes.”
The government also accused RFI of having relayed “misleading information” suggesting the leader of the Burkinabe junta, Captain Ibrahim Traore, had said there had been an attempted coup against him.
In Burkina Faso, RFI is broadcast on five FM relays, shortwave, free-to-air on several satellites and via some 50 partner radio stations.
It is followed each week by more than 40 percent of the population.
At Liero, a town close to the Burkina Faso border, a joint patrol team of Ghana Police Service and Immigration service seized 981 bags of compressed substance believed to be marijuana.
The service was able to intercept the alleged drugs after receiving intel. The service allegedly conducted a raid on a man’s (name withheld) Liero house.
The team found that the majority of the rooms were loaded with bags containing what was thought to be marijuana.
“The respective state security agencies would be invited to analyse the exhibits to ascertain the veracity of our deep suspicion about what the substance actually is,” part of the statement read.
“In the meantime, frantic efforts are being made to apprehend persons connected to the ceased substance to aid in the investigation and appropriate action,” it added.
It continued that, “Whereas we appreciate the impeccable rapport with the locals, we wish to respectfully inform the few unrepentant ones not to stand in our way. They must either change or we change them, the middle ground is not an option.”
Burkina Faso’s interim leader, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, has announced that he was the target of a coup attempt last week.
In a meeting with civil society organisations on Thursday, Captain Traoré confirmed the coup attempt and said that he knew who was behind it, but was not going to make any arrests as he “prefers dialogue and the situation is under control”.
Capt Traoré took power in Burkina Faso on 30 September through a coup by ousting his predecessor, Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba, who himself had seized power through a coup.
Four of the defendants arrested in connection with a 2016 Islamic extremist attack that killed19 people on a tourist beach in Ivory Coast appeared in court Wednesday to face murder and terrorism charges.
Authorities last week had released the names of 18 defendants accused in the Grand-Bassam killings, which were later claimed by Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.
It was the nation’s first terror attack of its kind, and it deepened fears that Islamic extremism was spreading further south from neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso. In the year after the violence, suspects also were arrested in those countries as well as in Senegal.
Prosecutors did not address where the other defendants were on Wednesday or whether they might appear at a later date.
Prosper Kouassi, a defence lawyer representing the detainees, could not provide an explanation either.
“It is the prosecutor who must answer,” Kouassi said. “We have been presented with the four people, it is the four people we will defend.”
Grand-Bassam is linked by highway t- o Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s commercial hub, and was a popular weekend destination for beach-goers.
The victims that day included 11 Ivorians, four French, one German, one Lebanese, one Macedonian and one Nigerian.
When gunfire broke out on the beach on that Sunday afternoon in 2016, many holidaymakers initially thought it was fireworks going off. As the jihadis approached closer with their Kalashnikovs, terrified tourists and those working at the beachside bars and restaurants nearby tried to seek refuge in nearby hotels. Some beachgoers who were in the ocean at the time of the attack were able to swim out against the waves to safety.
Among those at the courthouse Wednesday was Odile Koko Kouamenan, whose son was among those witnessing the attack.
“The scene happened in front of him,” she recalled. “He was a witness on the ground. He was so traumatised that he left the city and went to the village for a year.”
She said her son needs follow up medical care, which he has not yet received.
“If the state can do anything for him, that’s all a mother wants for her child.” Kouamenan added.
The trial is expected to last until the end of December.
Troops in the Benin Republic clashed with armed men suspected of being terrorists near the country’s northern border with Burkina Faso, killing four attackers, according to the army.
Insurgents across their northern borders pose a growing threat to the Gulf of Guinea states of Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Ivory Coast.
According to the army, a dozen armed men attacked a military post near the border in Kaobagou early Friday, but troops resisted and pushed them back in a counter-offensive.
“After fleeing, the enemy left behind four bodies, and a large amount of weapons and ammunition,” the army’s statement said.
The axis is has also witnessed a rise in smuggling gangs and cross-border crimes. Benin forces say they have faced more than 20 invasions since 2021 while neighbouring Togo has suffered at least five attacks within the same time.
The insurgency which started in Mali in 2012 has since spread to Burkina Faso and Niger.
The affected states met in Ghana’s capital Accra earlier this week to deliberate on strengthening cooperation with European partners to contain the spillover from conflicts in Burkina Faso and Niger Republic.
Thousands of people have been killed across the Sahel and more than two millionpersons have been displaced with devastating destruction inflicted on hapless members of mostly agrarian or trading communities.
More than 5,700 schools have been closed in Burkina Faso due to the security situation marked by jihadist attacks, depriving one million students of access to education, the NGO Save The Children warned Wednesday.
“Burkina has just crossed the dramatic threshold of one million children affected by the closure of schools due to the security crisis,” the NGO wrote in a statement, noting that 5,709 schools are closed. This is twice as many as the figures announced by the government earlier this year.
Since 2017, armed Islamist groups have targeted teachers and schools in Burkina Faso, citing their opposition to Western education and government institutions.
“These closures represent about 22% of educational structures in Burkina Faso. They affect 1,008,327 students,” the NGO said, citing the latest report from the Technical Secretariat for Education in Emergencies, a government body.
According to the Ministry of Education, more than 28,000 teachers are also affected by the school closures.
“In the immediate future, and given the urgency, it is essential that governments, donors, and the humanitarian community find and fund immediate alternative solutions to mitigate the risks associated with this situation,” said Save the Children’s Burkina director Benoit Delsarte, calling it a “dramatic situation.
“In addition to depriving children of their right to education and intellectual development, the closure of classes exposes them to many other risks that permanently compromise their well-being and their future,” he said.
For more than seven years, civilians and soldiers in Burkina Faso have been regularly plunged into mourning by increasingly frequent jihadist attacks, particularly in the north and east, which have killed thousands and forced some two million people to flee their homes.
Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who led a military coup on September 30 against Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, was appointed transitional president by the Constitutional Council on October 21 and has set himself the goal of “recapturing the territories occupied by the terrorist hordes.
This is the second coup in Burkina Faso in eight months, and each time the coup plotters cite the deteriorating security situation.
Burkina Faso has launched a drive to recruit 50,000 civilian defense volunteers. Among them, volunteers for the defense of the homeland. The men and women are on a mission to protect, the people and property of their localities of origin alongside the defense and security forces.
Jihadi violence has killed thousands of people since 2015. The last elected president was deposed after he faced a wave of anger over the insurgency. According to professor Zakaria Soré, the army is adjusting tactics to swell its ranks.
Burkina Faso has been grappling with a jihadist insurgency which has continually extended its deadly grip, called for civilian backup in October.
Captain Ibrahim Traore has been appointed as president of Burkina Faso after Paul-Henri Damiba was removed in the West African country’s second coup in less than nine months.
Enlistment officially ended on November 18 and more than 30,000 people registered aged 18 to 77 according to government data.
The volunteers will receive 14 days of civic and military training before being armed and provided with means of communication.
The authorities in Burkina Fasolaunched an inquiry on Saturday into the shellfire that reportedly caused dozens of deaths in the region of Djibo.
According to the UN’s High Commission on Human Rights, the army is accused of shell firing a number of villages situated around 10km from the army base last Wednesday.
Reports on social networks refer to dozens of dead.
Speaking on Saturday, the government’s spokesman announced an inquiry whilst blaming jihadist extremistsactive in the region.
The degradation of the security situation in the country has prompted two coups this year, the last one at the end of September.
Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been regularly plagued by increasingly frequent jihadist attacks that have killed thousands and forced some two million people to flee their homes.
The 71 deputies appointed to Burkina Faso’s new Transitional Legislative Assembly (TLA) took office on Friday, more than a month after the coup d’etat that brought Captain Ibrahim Traore to power.
This assembly is responsible for voting on the texts of reforms planned during the transition.
The 71 deputies were appointed by the head of state (20), the defence and security forces (16), civil society organisations (12), representatives of the country’s regions (13, one per region) and political parties (10).
They replace their predecessors who had been invested according to a similar mode of appointment in March, when the junta led by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who was overthrown at the end of September, set up the assembly.
A dozen deputies from the previous assembly were reappointed, such as Abdoulaye Soma, a former candidate in the November 2020 presidential election, or Ousmane Bougouma, a 41-year-old law professor, who was elected president of the assembly on Friday.
“Our country, Burkina Faso, is going through difficult times in its history. This is not the time for celebrations or rejoicing but rather for commitment and self-sacrifice.
“I urge you to be sober, to make a collective effort and to show patriotic commitment,” he said, addressing the deputies, calling for “an uncompromising control of government action”.
The establishment of this legislative body follows the adoption in mid-October of a Transitional Charter, drawn up after consultation between the ruling junta and the “active forces” of the nation (parties, unions, civil society, etc.).
This charter stipulates that the members of the LTA have a “free mandate” and will not be paid, apart from session allowances.
Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been caught up in a spiral of violence attributed to jihadist movements affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (EI) group, which has left thousands dead and some two million displaced.
The deteriorating security situation has been used to justify two coups this year: the first at the end of January, when a military junta led by Lieutenant-Colonel Damiba overthrew elected president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, and another at the end of September, which brought Captain Traoré to power.
Captain Traoré, who was sworn in as president of the transition on 21 October by the Constitutional Council, has set himself the goal of “reconquering the territory occupied by hordes of terrorists”.
Burkina Faso’stransitional prime minister has replaced two ministers, only two weeks after the formation of a new government.
The minister for industry and trade, as well as the one in charge of lands and housing, were replaced through a decree read out on national television on Wednesday.
Donatien Nagalo’s appointment as trade minister had faced opposition by traders’ associations, who accused him of malpractices as a former head of the country’s national union of traders.
He has now been replaced by Serge Gnaniodem Poda, an executive of BCEAO, the central bank of the common regional currency.
Mikailou Sidibé replaces Yacouba Dié, whose appointment as lands and housing minister had also been challenged by a wave of protests over alleged poor implementation of a past government housing project.
Prime Minister Apollinaire Kyelem de Tambéla formed the first transitional military government under Captain Ibrahim Traoré on 25 October.
Before dismissing the two ministers, he had justified their appointment saying that a background check had found nothing incriminating against them.
Michael Adomako, better known by his stage name Mike of the award-winning gospel duet Willie & Mike, was ordained and consecrated as a minister last Saturday at the Paintsil & Associates School of Ministry at Hyatt Regency, New Jersey, United States.
Many people in Burkina Faso, South Africa, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, North America, and other regions of Africa have been moved by his music.
When asked about what being called into the ministry would mean for his music ministry, the successful musician said he sees it not as a setback but as an opportunity to reach more people for Christ via his songs.
Mike has served as a minister for 27 years and counting.
“This honor is humbling to me. Because I know that this is not going to be an easy road, but because I also know that God’s love and mercy will carry me through any difficulty that may arise, I am asking for greater prayers and support and seeking God’s direction.”
Several well-known gospel artists, such as Rev. Graceman, Mary Agyemang, Nana Yaw de Worshiper, the Lord of No Tribe Group, and many more dignitaries from over the globe attended the coronation basically to show their support for their fellow minister friend.
The worship leader thanked God for the day, his family, Apostle Dr. Steve Paintsil, his fellow members of the gospel music community, and everyone who had prayed for him and supported him over the years.
Burkina Faso this week launched a drive to recruit 50,000 civilian defense volunteers to help the army fight jihadists, the authorities said.
“A recruitment is launched of 35,000 communal VDP, that is to say, 100 VDP per commune,” said a statement by the commander of the Brigade of Vigilance and Patriotic Defense (BVDP), Colonel Boukaré Zoungrana, Minister of Territorial Administration, Decentralization and Security on Tuesday.
“The mission of these communal VDPs is to protect, alongside the defense and security forces, the people and property of their communes of origin”, in the face of jihadist attacks, he said.
This local recruitment is in addition to the one on Monday when the BVDP announced its intention to build a force of 15,000 VDPs “that can be deployed throughout the national territory.
The status of the VDP is defined by law since January 21, 2020. It is defined as “a person of Burkinabe nationality, auxiliary to the Defense and Security Forces (FDS), voluntarily serving the security interests of his village or sector of residence.
VDPs receive 14 days of civic and military training before being armed and provided with means of communication.
They pay a heavy price in the jihadist attacks that regularly strike Burkina Faso, particularly in the north and east.
To date, no data is available on their exact number, even though the initial objective was to recruit 13,000 people.
These massive recruitments are in addition to a one-time recruitment campaign of 3,000 soldiers to bolster the ranks of the army in the fight against jihadists.
These campaigns come after a September 30 coup led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, whose stated aim is to strengthen the anti-jihadist fight.
At least ten soldiers were killed and about 50 wounded Monday in a “terrorist attack” in Djibo, a town under jihadist blockade for three months in northern Burkina.
Burkina Faso’s military rulers are accessing more ways to help fight Islamist extremists.
They have launched a drive to recruit tens of thousands of civilian volunteers.
The commander of the force, called Volunteers for the Defence of the Fatherland, indicated that the aim is to enlist 35,000 new members.
Candidates will receive two weeks of military training before taking part in operations across the country, which has been battling a jihadist insurgency since 2015.
There have been two military coups in Burkina Faso this year with the leaders of both promising to end the violence.
More than 300 military officials, politicians and community leaders are meeting in Burkina Faso to chart the country’s future following its second coup in less than a year.
They are expected to agree that elections should be held by July 2024.
Demonstrators in the capital, Ouagadougou, say they want coup leader Captain Ibrahim Traoré to be the interim president.
He says he doesn’t want the job.
Like his predecessor, Lt-Gen General Paul-Henri Damiba, Capt Traoré justified the coup by saying the authorities were failing to deal with Islamist insurgents.
The man who led the latest coup in Burkina Faso has been named interim president until elections in July 2024.
A national forum declared that Capt Ibrahim Traoré would not be allowed to stand in the polls.
He seized power two weeks ago from Lt-Gen Paul-Henri Damiba, who staged a coup in January accusing the authorities of failing to deal with Islamist militants.
The insurgency intensified after the general’s takeover, prompting Capt Traoré to remove him by force.
Twenty-six African countries voted in favour of the resolution, rejecting Moscow’s controversial referenda in four Ukrainian regions. Nineteen others abstained.
Mali, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, the Republic of Congo, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, and Zimbabwe were among the African countries that abstained. Eritrea, which had previously voted to reject a UN resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine, also abstained.
Three of these countries hosted Russian diplomatic chief, Sergei Lavrov, during his tour of the region in July.
Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Sao Tome were absent from the assembly.
The General Assembly of the 193 member states had met in an emergency meeting. It adopted the resolution with 143 votes in favour, with five countries against and 35 abstaining, including China, India, Pakistan, and South Africa, despite diplomatic efforts by the United States.
The five states that voted against were Russia, Belarus, Syria, North Korea, and Nicaragua.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian Foreign Minister,DmytroKuleba, toured Africa in an effort to counter Russia’s apparent hold on the continent. The goal was to persuade leaders to support Kyiv.
He was forced to cut his visit short after Moscow intensified its bombing of Ukraine.
Twenty-six African countries have voted in favour of a UN resolution rejecting Moscow’s contentious referendums in four Ukrainian regions that it declared part of Russia.
Nineteen countries abstained, including Eritrea that had previously voted to reject a UN resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s perceived allies, including Mali, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Republic of Congo, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe are also among other African countries that abstained.
Three of these countries hosted Russia’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov when he toured the region in July.
Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome were absent from the assembly.
Earlier this month, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba toured Africa to counter Russia’s apparent hold on the continent and persuade leaders to support Kyiv.
He was forced to cut the visit short after Moscow heightened bombardments on Ukraine.
Former President John Dramani Mahama has shared nuggets that can put Africa on the right footing in seeking to better the lot of people on the continent.
He identified among others absolute accountability of institutions, ethical and moral uprightness and stoic fidelity to the truth as three such values Africa needs.
His views were contained in a Facebook post dated October 9 sharing portions of a speech he delivered at the Liberty University’s convocation event last week in the United States.
“Absolute accountability, not just by government but by the institutions of state in service to the people and not themselves, will go a long way to remedy many of the systemic problems that affect our African people.
“In Africa, we need ethical and moral uprightness as guiding principles, and a stoic fidelity to the truth and to do right by our people above all other considerations,” his post accompanied by photos of his engagement read.
Mahama was a special guest of honour at the 2022 Liberty University Convocation in Lynchburg, Virginia where he delivered a speech to a packed auditorium.
He described Ghana as “an island of religious calmness in a sea of turbulence,” citing how “almost all our surrounding neighbours have in recent times experienced some major form of insurgency, coup d’etats or other conflicts, including religious conflicts.”
He explained the situation in Ghana’s northern neighbours, Burkina Faso and Mali, where insurgents are running roughshod.
Burkina Faso as of October 3 had a new president despite last holding an election in November 2022.
Ibrahim Traore, rose to the high office of president and Supreme Leader of the Armed Forces after leading a coup that ousted his former boss Lt. Col. Sandaogo Damiba.
Traore, at the age of 34 became the world’s youngest president, two years behind the democratically-elected Chilean president, Gabriel Boric.
The new Burkinabe president would hardly have made it to the presidency if he tried getting there via the ballots.
A testament to this is the fact that whereas Africa boasts a young population, it has managed to produce some of the oldest leaders.
At 34 years, Traore is in some case younger that children of some African presidents.
This article looks at some African leaders whose age is double or more than twice that of their newest counterpart in the arid West African country suffering a Sahel security crisis.
List of African leaders who are twice as old as Ibrahim Traore
a. Joao Lourenco of Angola – 68 years
b. Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa – 69 years
c. Abdelmajid Tebboune of Algeria – 76 years
d. Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria – 77 years
e. Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast – 78 years
f. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana – 78 years
g. Denis Sassou Nguesso of Republic of Congo – 78 years
h. Yoweri Museveni of Uganda – 78 years
i. Theodore Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea – 80 years
In front of the Ouagadougou municipal stadium, in Burkina Faso, food donors come one after the other. They are gathering to prepare supplies for their compatriots trapped in localities controlled by jihadists. A sign calling for donations for residents from the northern city of Djibo who are now facing famine.
The capital of the Soum Province has been losing its population to insecurity and food shortage. It has swollen from 60-thousand to some 300-thousand over the last few years.
Last week an aid convoy supervised by the military and heading to Djibo was attacked by terrorists, leaving dozens dead and missing.
For all, supporting inhabitants in Djibo is a humanitarian gesture and a citizen’s duty.
“It is a patriotic gesture because it is also the way for all Burkinabe to contribute as little as it may be, for the fight against terrorism”, civil engineer Don Bosco Steeve Zongo says.
According to the ECOWAS envoy to Burkina, the authorities control only 60% of the territory.
Thousands fleeing terrorists therefore flock to Ouagadougou and its suburbs. Many like Bouréima Zabré, gather in makeshift camps. On good days, they chat and discuss. What can never leave their minds is also the story of their ordeal.
“It is the terrorists who asked us to leave our village, the old man says. Soldiers who come to defend the people cannot kill them all. They, the jihadists, have come to wage war and there will be no survivors. So we left.”
Leaving often means saving one’s life and starting a life of exile where harsh makeshift conditions, and often no assistance from the government await.
Can military men provide a solution?
Starting in 2015, a jihadist insurgency spread to Burkina from neighboring Mali, claiming thousands of lives and prompting more than two million people to flee their homes.
A new junta led by 34-year-old Captain Ibrahim Traore seized power in Burkina Faso on September 30, in the second such power grab since January blamed on failures to quell jihadist attacks.
If organisers of coups in the Sahel often promise improved security, analysts doubt the pledges.
To Djallil Lounnas at Morocco’s Al-Akhawayn University, a putsch typically “destabilises the army structure and divides members of the military into supporters and opponents of the coup”.
Burkina Faso’s military has warned the public not to circulate rumours and false information amid claims that France was working with unnamed army generals to remove new junta leader Capt Ibrahim Traoré from power.
“We urge you to freely go on with your activities. We especially urge you to refrain from any rumours and misinformation and remain true to our values of hospitality, tolerance and communal living,” a statement read on state-run RTB TV by a military officer said.
The ministry of communication also called the rumours “unfounded” and urged citizens to “remain calm and distance themselves from misinformation and trust official channels”.
The warning came after protests were held outside the state broadcaster in which demonstrators accused army generals of planning to remove Capt Traoré.
According to privately-owned Radio Omega, there were rumours that a general in the army could replace Capt Traoré as head of state.
The people of Ouagadougou are reacting to the announcement that Captain Ibrahim Traoré, leader of the 30 September coup d’etat, has taken power.
“It is a good thing that he assumes (power)” says one man. Traoré was designated head of state and supreme commander of the national armed forces on national television, in a statement entitled “Acte fundamental”.
“My problem is that as a young person, he needs advice”. says another citizen by the name Moumouni Ouédraogo. ”As he is a young person he needs advice. Without advice, it can’t work. We hope that all he has to do is listen to the advice and he’ll be fine.” Ouédraogo stressed.
Just a week ago, 34-year-old Ibrahim Traore was an unknown, even in his native Burkina Faso.
But in the space of a weekend, he catapulted himself from army captain to the world’s youngest leader — an ascent that has stoked hopes but also fears for a poor and chronically troubled country.
Traore, at the head of a core of disgruntled junior officers, ousted Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who had seized power just in January.
The motive for the latest coup — as in January — was anger at failures to stem a seven-year jihadist insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives and driven nearly two million people from their homes.
On Wednesday, Traore was declared president and “guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity… and continuity of the State.”
At that lofty moment, Traore became the world’s youngest leader, wresting the title from Chilean President Gabriel Boric, a whole two years older.
Traore’s previously unknown face is now plastered on portraits around the capital Ouagadougou.
His photo is even on sale in the main market, alongside portraits of Burkina’s revered assassinated radical leader, Thomas Sankara, and of Jesus.
– Military career –
Traore was born in Bondokuy, in western Burkina Faso, and studied geology in Ouagadougou before joining the army in 2010.
He graduated as an officer from the Georges Namonao Military School — a second-tier institution compared to the prestigious Kadiogo Military Academy (PMK) of which Damiba and others in the elite are alumni.
Traore emerged second in his class, a contemporary told AFP, describing him as “disciplined and brave.”
After graduation, he gained years of experience in the fight against jihadists.
He served in the badly-hit north and centre of the country before heading to a posting in neighbouring Mali in 2018 in the UN’s MINUSMA peacekeeping mission.
He was appointed captain in 2020.
A former superior officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, recounted an incident that occurred in 2020 when the town of Barsalogho in central Burkina was on the verge of falling to the jihadists.
The highway into Barsalogho was believed to have been mined, so Traore led his men on a “commando trek” across the countryside, arriving in time to free the town, he said.
When Damiba took power in January, ousting elected president Roch Marc Christian Kabore, Traore became a member of the Patriotic Movement for Preservation and Restoration (MPSR), as the junta chose to call itself.
– Discontent –
In March, Damiba promoted Traore to head of artillery in the Kaya regiment in the centre of the country.
But it was a move that ironically would sow the seeds of Damiba’s own downfall.
The regiment became a cradle of discontent, and Traore, tasked by his colleagues with channelling their frustrations, made several trips to Ouagadougou to plead their case with Damiba.
Disillusionment at the response turned into anger, which appears to have crystallised into a resolve to seize power after an attack on a convoy in northern Burkina last month that left 27 soldiers and 10 civilians dead.
“Captain Traore symbolises the exasperation of junior officers and the rank and file,” said security consultant Mahamoudou Savadogo.
The new president faces a daunting task in regaining the upper hand over jihadist groups, some affiliated with Al-Qaeda and others with the Islamic State. They have steadily gained ground since they launched their attacks from Mali in 2015.
Yet Traore has promised to do “within three months” what “should have been done in the past eight months,” making a direct criticism of his predecessor.
Savadogo warned that one soldier overthrowing another illustrates “the deteriorating state of the army, which hardly exists anymore and which has just torn itself apart with this umpteenth coup d’etat”.
Traore’s takeover also comes amid deliberations with ECOWAS the regional bloc which is seeking to ensure and guide the sahelian state back to civilian rule within a set deadline. “I don’t even want Captain Traoré to respect the ECOWAS calendar. We don’t want the ECOWAS calendar. We don’t want ECOWAS. ECOWAS has never solved a problem in Africa.” one man in Ouagadougou says.
Alongside the ECOWAS issue is the struggle for influence between France and Russia in French-speaking Africa, where former French colonies are increasingly turning to Moscow.
Demonstrators who rallied for Traore in Ouagadougou during last weekend’s standoff with Damiba waved Russian flags and chanted anti-France slogans.
Traore seems — for now — to bring hope to many in a country sinking steadily in the quagmire.
On Monday, L’Observateur Paalga newspaper, went with a decidedly biblical headline: “Ibrahim, the intimate friend of God, will he be able to save us?”
Burkinabés gathered in the capital of Burkina Faso on Thursday to show their support for the country’s new junta leader, as rumours swirled of internal divisions in the army.
Ibrahim Traore was declared president on Wednesday after a two-day standoff that ousted Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba, who had seized power only in January.
Traore was at the head of a core of disgruntled junior officers — but there were rumours just a few days later of discussions among some other army generals over potentially replacing him.
A crowd of several hundred people, mostly young men, gathered in front of the national radio and television centre in the city.
“We have learned that the generals are in consultation to appoint one of them in place of Captain Traore. It will not do! Not today, not tomorrow,” said one of those rallying, trader Amadou Congo.
Rumours circulating in Ouagadougou claimed there was a division between the junior officers represented by Traore and the high-ranking officers who moved in the same circles as Damiba.
After an hour of protesting a soldier sought to calm the crowd, and the new government denied rumours of a split.
“Information which has been circulating since this morning on social networks about generals meeting… is unfounded” according to a statement released by the communication ministry.
Calm has generally returned to the streets of Ouagadougou since last Friday’s coup and the turbulent weekend that followed.
Traore graduated as an officer from Burkina Faso’s Georges Namonao Military School — a second-tier institution compared to the prestigious Kadiogo Military Academy of which Damiba and others in the elite are alumni.
Some of the protesters were waving Burkina or Russian flags — with speculation rife that Burkina’s new leader may follow other fragile regimes in French-speaking Africa and forge close ties with Moscow at the expense of France.
The attack committed by jihadists at the end of September in Gaskindé in northern Burkina Faso, killed 37 people, 27 soldiers, and ten civilians, announced Wednesday at the headquarters of the Burkinabe army.
“The combing and search operations carried out” since the attack “has resulted in the following toll: 10 civilians killed, 27 soldiers killed, 29 wounded, including 21 soldiers, seven civilians, and a volunteer for the defense of the country”, a deputy of the army, according to the headquarters, which said that three people are “still missing”.
The 27 soldiers killed will be buried Friday in Ouagadougou.
On September 26, a supply convoy bound for the town of Djibo, the capital of the Sahel region in the north of the country, was attacked by gunmen.
In a statement posted on social media and authenticated by the U.S. SITE jihadist monitoring center, the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic and Muslim Support Group (GSIM) claimed responsibility for the ambush.
The army-escorted convoys supply northern towns under blockade by jihadist groups that have recently blown up bridges on major highways.
The town of Djibo, which had not seen a road supply convoy arrive for some 40 days, according to the transporters’ union, was supplied by helicopter on Tuesday with 70 tons of food, according to the army.
Burkina Faso was the scene of a putsch on Friday, eight months after a first coup.
Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the new strongman of Burkina Faso, overthrew Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, blaming him in particular for the lack of results in the fight against jihadists.
Since 2015, regular attacks by armed movements affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) group have killed thousands and displaced some two million people.
Captain Ibrahim Traoré has been appointed president of Burkina Faso.
His appointment on Wednesday comes less than a week after the latest coup in the West African country, the second in less than nine months.
“The President of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguarding and Restoration (MPSR) will serve as Head of State and Supreme Commander of the National Armed Forces. He is the guarantor of the independence of the judiciary. If the President is unable to act, his powers are exercised by the First Vice-President and, if necessary, by the Second Vice-President”, said Captain Kiswendsida Farouk Azaria Sorgho, spokesperson for the Patriotic Movement for Safeguarding and Restoration (MPSR), speaking on national television.
Burkina Faso plunged into turmoil last weekend when Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba — who had seized power in January — was toppled by newly emerged rival Ibahim Traoré who headed a faction of disgruntled junior officers.
Earlier this week, delegates from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) visited the country on a fact-finding mission and held meetings with religious and traditional leaders as well as the new military ruler.
Several dozen protestors rallied in Burkina Faso’s capital Tuesday as West African envoys arrived on a fact-finding mission following the country’s latest coup.
The mission was headed by Guinea-Bissau Foreign Minister and included the West African mediator for Burkina Faso.
If protesters were hostile, the envoys were however welcomed by the country’s new strong man and met with customary and religious authorities.
In Ouagadougou, demonstrators marched against ECOWAS. “ECOWAS is a disgrace, Amadou Sagada exclaimed.
“We want to tell them that the Burkinabe people are standing up and will not let themselves be taken away. What the captain has done is the will of the people and we are behind them”, the high school teacher added.
The regional bloc has witnessed five coups among three of its membersin little over two years.
Pressing for a return to constitutional rule in member states lead by juntas, ECOWAS adopted a contested method: which included sanctions.
“We are not against their coming (the ECOWAS envoys) to Burkina, protester Bado Nebon said.
“We oppose them because we know what they are coming to do: destroy the country. We are well aware of that, that’s why we’re opposed to that.”
Protesters chanted pro-Russian slogans and called on France to exit the country. Despite a call for restraint by the coup leader, demonstrators even gathered in the zone of the airport where the west African mission landed.
If the coup leader had urged restraint for a smooth course of the ECOWAS mission, a heavy military presence kept demonstrators away from the main entrance of the airport where they had rallied to make Ecowas envoys feel unwelcome.
The ECOWASmediator for Burkina Faso has ended his visit to the country following last Friday’s coup, the second in eight months.
Mahamadou Issoufou met with the country’s new strongman Captain Ibrahim Traoré.
Speaking to the press after the meeting, the ECOWAS mediator reaffirmed his commitment to the Burkinabe people.
“We will report on our mission to the current president of ECOWAS and to the heads of state. But I can already assure you that ECOWAS will remain at the side of the Burkinabe people.
…We will continue to accompany the Burkinabe people in this very difficult ordeal they are going through”, said Mahamadou Issoufou, ECOWAS mediator for Burkina Faso.
During the meeting, the new leader of Burkina Faso promised to keep the commitments made in July by the previous leadership regarding the organisation of elections and a return of civilians to power by July 2024 at the latest.
The head of the Russianmercenary Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has welcomed the takeover in Burkina Faso.
Meanwhile, the Russian government said on Monday it “would like the situation in Burkina Faso to normalise as soon possible”.
Burkina Faso controls as little as 60% of its territory, experts say, and Islamist violence is worsening.
The African Union has demanded the return of constitutional order by July 2023 at the latest, agreeing with the regional group Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) that the ousting of leader Lt Col Damiba was “unconstitutional”.
But Ecowas has since praised “the various parties in Burkina Faso for agreeing to a peaceful settlement of their differences”, as days of power struggles came to an end without bloodshed.
It is still not clear where Burkina Faso’s ousted leader is, and no statement has been released by him directly.
But religious and community leaders on Sunday said Lt Col Damiba himself had offered his resignation “in order to avoid confrontations with serious human and material consequences,” according to quotes cited by AFP news agency.
They said Lt Col Damiba had set seven conditions for stepping down – including a guarantee of his security, an agreement to continue with efforts at national reconciliation and a continued respect for the guarantee of returning to civilian rule within two years.
The deposed colonel had himself ousted President Roch Kaboré in January, saying that he had failed to deal with growing militant Islamist violence.
Many citizens in Burkina Faso have not felt safe for some time.
The Islamist insurgency broke out in the country in 2015, leaving thousands dead and forcing an estimated two million people from their homes.
This is Burkina Faso’s ninth coup since independence from France in 1960.
The ECOWAS mediator for Burkina Faso has ended his visit to the country following last Friday’s coup, the second in eight months.
Mahamadou Issoufou met with the country’s new strongman Captain Ibrahim Traoré.
Speaking to the press after the meeting, the ECOWAS mediator reaffirmed his commitment to the Burkinabe people.
“We will report on our mission to the current president of ECOWAS and to the heads of state. But I can already assure you that ECOWAS will remain at the side of the Burkinabe people.
…We will continue to accompany the Burkinabe people in this very difficult ordeal they are going through”, said Mahamadou Issoufou, ECOWAS mediator for Burkina Faso.
During the meeting, the new leader of Burkina Faso promised to keep the commitments made in July by the previous leadership regarding the organisation of elections and a return of civilians to power by July 2024 at the latest.
Security Analyst, Adib Saani, has said that the re-arrest of prominent Fulani Imam, Sheikh Dukere, does not mean that he (the Imam) is connected to jihadists or terrorist groups in Burkina Faso.
According to a Joy News report, Sheikh Osman Dukere was arrested for the second time in Ghana by National Security together with 12 of his followers on Saturday, October 1, 2022.
Although the reason for his arrest has not been disclosed, the Imam was arrested in 2019 with 20 of his disciples when he was accused of having links with a jihadist group in Burkina Faso.
The first arrest was made after the security operatives in Burkina Faso informed the National Security of Ghana that Imam Dukuri was the emergency contact of 5 jihadists it had killed in a gunfight.
But in a statement copied to GhanaWeb, Adib Saani said the five terrorists killed might have had the contact of Sheikh Dukere because he was the contact person for Fulanis who fled to Ghana.
“Sheikh Siidi Dukere who was arrested alongside 12 of his followers in Karaga in the northern region was arrested in the past and released due to lack of evidence.
“He came under the radar when killed militants in Burkina Faso had his number on their emergency contact list. But as an individual who was the official focal point and contact person for all Fulanis who fled into Ghana from Burkina Faso, it would have been normal to have his contact saved on many phones even if he didn’t know them,” parts of the statement read.
Adib, however, urged the security apparatus in Ghana to be vigilant because the five terrorists having the contact of the Islamic cleric might mean that they might have come to Ghana at some point.
“However, the fact that these individuals had his number saved in their devices meant that they might have accessed Ghana before returning to Burkina Faso,” he noted.
The two organisations have also asked the military junta to refrain from acts of violence and comply with a laid down process agreed with transition authorities to return the country to constitutional order by July 1, 2024.
This was contained in separate statements issued by ECOWAS Chairman, Guinea-Bissau’s President, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, and AU Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Maham, at the weekend.
In the country’s second coup in a year, Burkina Faso military leader, Paul-Henri Damiba, was on Friday deposed as army Captain, Ibrahim Traore, took charge, dissolving the transitional government and suspending the constitution.
Traore said on Friday evening that the new group of officers removed Damiba due to his inability to deal with a worsening armed uprising in the country for which he initially toppled the civilian government.
“ECOWAS finds this new coup a major setback at a time when progress had been made, particularly through diplomacy and efforts undertaken to ensure an orderly return to constitutional order by 1st July 2024”, the ECOWAS statement said.
While reaffirming its “unreserved condemnation” of any seizure or retention of power by unconstitutional means, it demanded the scrupulous respect of the timetable already agreed upon with the Transition Authorities for a rapid return to constitutional order.
“ECOWAS hereby warns any institution, force or group of persons who, by their actions, may hinder the planned return to constitutional order or contribute to undermining the peace and stability of Burkina Faso and the Region.
“The ECOWAS Commission remains seized with developments in the country”, the statement said.
The AU statement extended the AU Chair’s support for ECOWAS and expressed his deep concern about the resurgence of unconstitutional changes of the government in Burkina Faso and elsewhere on the African Continent.
It said the support was in conformity with the Lomé Declaration of Year 2000, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance and the Accra Declaration on Unconstitutional Changes of Government.
The Chairperson called upon the military to immediately and totally refrain from any acts of violence or threats to the civilian population, civil liberties, human rights, and ensure strict compliance with electoral deadlines for the restoration of Constitutional order by 1 July 2024, at the latest.
“The Chairperson reaffirms the continued support of the African Union to the people of Burkina Faso to ensure peace, stability and development of the country,” the AU statement said.
“We really need to change the pace. We need to change the pace. We need to go fast. The whole country is in a state of emergency. So everyone at this level must be able to move faster and abandon the unnecessary red tape.
I can’t even name one point, one point where it is necessary to be fast — it is all the points. In Burkina, everything is urgent. From security to defence, to health, to social action, to infrastructure, everything is urgent”, said junta chief and new self-proclaimed leader of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traore.
A few hours before events unfolded last Friday, hundreds of people rallied in the capital, Ouagadougou, seeking Damiba’s departure, the end of France’s military presence in the Sahel and military cooperation with Russia.
This is the second time in less than one year that Burkina Faso has had a change in leadership.
More than 40% of Burkina Faso remains outside government control.
The two organisations have also asked the military junta to refrain from acts of violence and comply with a laid down process agreed with transition authorities to return the country to constitutional order by July 1, 2024.
This was contained in separate statements issued by ECOWAS Chairman, Guinea-Bissau’s President, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, and AU Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Maham, at the weekend.
In the country’s second coup in a year, Burkina Faso military leader, Paul-Henri Damiba, was on Friday deposed as army Captain, Ibrahim Traore, took charge, dissolving the transitional government and suspending the constitution.
Traore said on Friday evening that the new group of officers removed Damiba due to his inability to deal with a worsening armed uprising in the country for which he initially toppled the civilian government.
“ECOWAS finds this new coup a major setback at a time when progress had been made, particularly through diplomacy and efforts undertaken to ensure an orderly return to constitutional order by 1st July 2024”, the ECOWAS statement said.
While reaffirming its “unreserved condemnation” of any seizure or retention of power by unconstitutional means, it demanded the scrupulous respect of the timetable already agreed upon with the Transition Authorities for a rapid return to constitutional order.
“ECOWAS hereby warns any institution, force or group of persons who, by their actions, may hinder the planned return to constitutional order or contribute to undermining the peace and stability of Burkina Faso and the Region.
“The ECOWAS Commission remains seized with developments in the country”, the statement said.
The AU statement extended the AU Chair’s support for ECOWAS and expressed his deep concern about the resurgence of unconstitutional changes of the government in Burkina Faso and elsewhere on the African Continent.
It said the support was in conformity with the Lomé Declaration of Year 2000, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance and the Accra Declaration on Unconstitutional Changes of Government.
The Chairperson called upon the military to immediately and totally refrain from any acts of violence or threats to the civilian population, civil liberties, human rights, and ensure strict compliance with electoral deadlines for the restoration of Constitutional order by 1 July 2024, at the latest.
“The Chairperson reaffirms the continued support of the African Union to the people of Burkina Faso to ensure peace, stability and development of the country,” the AU statement said.
Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the head of Burkina Faso’s new junta and the youngest leader in the country, is a combat-tested soldier who has grown increasingly critical of his predecessor’s “unsuccessful policies” against the Islamic State and al-Qaeda extremists.
Capt Traoré toppled Lt Col Paul-Henri Damiba on 30 September, marking the country’s second military coup this year that could slow down an eventual transition to civilian rule.
He was among a group of soldiers who backed Lt Col Damiba’s 24 January coup against democratically-elected President Roch Kaboré. However, eight months later, divisions emerged in the junta known as the Patriotic Movement for Preservation and Restoration (MPSR).
Various tactics applied by Lt Col Damiba’s interim military administration – including reforms to a pro-army self-defence force, the appointment of military governors to violence hotspots, and heightened operations in the north and east – have failed to curb deadly militant attacks against civilians and security forces.
According to conflict data analysts ACLED Info, Burkina Faso replaced neighbouring Mali as the epicentre of militant violence this year, leading to protests demanding Lt Col Damiba’s resignation.
While the counter-coup was surprising, Burkina Faso’s army has long grappled with mistrust and disaffection since the failed coup of 2015 that led to the disbandment of an elite force.
The morale of security forces has been further blighted by persistent insurgent attacks and poor working conditions, particularly in volatile borderlands.
In the immediate aftermath of Capt Traoré’s power grab, a war of wordsensued between his faction and that of Lt Col Damiba, raising fears of a violent power struggle.
Lt Col Damiba’s resignation on Sunday put Capt Traoré firmly in charge of a fragmented army struggling to face a brutal insurgency that continues to destabilise vast parts of Burkina Faso and the wider Sahel.
The French government has denied claims made by Burkina Faso’s new military junta that it is siding with deposed commander Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
The statement was made by the juntaheaded by Captain Ibrahim Traore, which came to power on September 30, 2022, promising to restore stability throughout the country of West Africa.
According to an October 1, 2022 statement read on national TV, RTB, a member of the new junta, Sous-Lieutenant Jean-Baptiste Kabre, said the former leader of the MPSR – the name of the junta, had refused to leave power quietly.
Kabre alleged that Sandaogo Damiba was planning a “counter-offensive” and claimed further that he was doing this from a French base.
On Saturday, there were violent attacks against the French Embassy in Burkina Faso as protesters marched on the facility and threatened to burn it by lighting fires around the building
In an October 1, 2022 statement from the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, France denied the allegation and said it was not hosting Damiba in any of its facilities.
“France formally denies any involvement in the events underway since yesterday in Burkina Faso.
“The camp where the French forces are located has never hosted Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, nor has our embassy,” the statement read.
Read the complete statement below:
STATEMENT BY THE SPOKESPERSON OF THE MINISTRY FOR EUROPE AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Burkina Faso
October 1, 2022
France formally deniesany involvement in the events underway since yesterday in Burkina Faso.
The camp where the French forces are located has never hosted Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, nor has our embassy.
PRESS SERVICE
Spokesperson Sub-Directorate
New junta leader Captain Traore’s announced the takeover of executive power and deposition of Damiba, barely 10 months after the later seized power from democratically elected Christian Roch Marc Kabore.
The junta dissolved the government and the transitional national assembly as well as imposed a curfew and closed all the country’s borders.
The overthrow was premised on the continued deterioration of the insecurity situation even as terrorists continue to launch deadly raids on security forces and the local population.
ECOWAS and AU sound condemnation
The West African regional bloc, Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, has condemned the September 30, 2022 coup that took place in Burkina Faso, where a new military junta overthrew another.
What started out as an exchange of heavy gunfire on Friday morning was confirmed late in the evening with a broadcast on National TV announcing the takeover.
In a statement issued from the ECOWAS Commission hours after the announcement, the bloc said it firmly condemned the incident at a time the Sandaogo Damiba-led junta was making progress on an orderly return to constitutional order by July 1, 2024.
The junta said a new leader – civilian or military will be announced in due course, but before that, some measures put in place include the dissolution of the government, the Transitional Legislative Assembly (ALT), and the Transition Charter as well as the closure of borders.
The AU statement signed by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission was titled: ‘The Chairperson of the African Union Commission unequivocally condemns the second takeover of power by force in Burkina Faso,’ and it read:
“In strong support of ECOWAS, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, and in conformity with the Lomé Declaration of the Year 2000, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance and the Accra Declaration on Unconstitutional Changes of Government, expresses his deep concern about the resurgence of unconstitutional changes of Government in Burkina Faso and elsewhere on the African Continent.
“The Chairperson calls upon the military to immediately and totally refrain from any acts of violence or threats to the civilian population, civil liberties, human rights, and ensure strict compliance with electoral deadlines for the restoration of Constitutional order by 1 July 2024, at the latest.
“The Chairperson reaffirms the continued support of the African Union to the people of Burkina Faso to ensure peace, stability, and development of the country.”
The French government has rejected allegations by the new military junta in Burkina Faso to the effect that they are supporting ousted leader Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
The allegation was leveled by the Captain Ibrahim Traore-led junta that took power on September 30, 2022, with a promise to restore security across the West African nation.
According to an October 1, 2022 statement read on national TV, RTB, a member of the new junta, Sous-Lieutenant Jean-Baptiste Kabre, said the former leader of the MPSR – name of the junta, had refused to leave power quietly.
Kabre alleged that Sandaogo Damiba was planning a “counter-offensive” and claimed further that he’s doing this from a French base.
In an October 1, 2022 statement from the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, France denied the allegation and said it was not hosting Damiba in any of its facilities.
“France formally denies any involvement in the events underway since yesterday in Burkina Faso.
“The camp where the French forces are located has never hosted Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, nor has our embassy,” the statement read.
Read the complete statement below:
STATEMENT BY THE SPOKESPERSON OF THE MINISTRY FOR EUROPE AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Burkina Faso
October 1, 2022
France formally denies any involvement in the events underway since yesterday in Burkina Faso.
The camp where the French forces are located has never hosted Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, nor has our embassy.
PRESS SERVICE
Spokesperson Sub-Directorate
New junta leader Captain Traore’s announced the takeover of executive power and deposition of Damiba, barely 10 months after the later seized power from democratically elected Christian Roch Marc Kabore.
The junta dissolved the government and the transitional national assembly as well as imposed a curfew and closed all the country’s borders.
The overthrow was premised on continued deterioration of the insecurity situation even as terrorists continue to launch deadly raids on security forces and the local population.
ECOWAS and AU sound condemnation
The West African regional bloc, Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, has condemned the September 30, 2022 coup that took place in Burkina Faso, where a new military junta overthrew another.
What started out as an exchange of heavy gunfire on Friday morning was confirmed late in the evening with a broadcast on National TV announcing the takeover.
In a statement issued from the ECOWAS Commission hours after the announcement, the bloc said it firmly condemned the incident at a time the Sandaogo Damiba-led junta was making progress on an orderly return to constitutional order by July 1, 2024.
The junta said a new leader – civilian or military will be be announced in due course, but before that some measures put in place include dissolution of the government, the Transitional Legislative Assembly (ALT), and the Transition Charter as well as the closure of borders.
The AU statement signed by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission was titled: ‘The Chairperson of the African Union Commission unequivocally condemns the second takeover of power by force in Burkina Faso,’ and it read:
“In strong support of ECOWAS, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, and in conformity with the Lomé Declaration of Year 2000, the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance and the Accra Declaration on Unconstitutional Changes of Government, expresses his deep concern about the resurgence of unconstitutional changes of Government in Burkina Faso and elsewhere on the African Continent.
“The Chairperson calls upon the military to immediately and totally refrain from any acts of violence or threats to the civilian population, civil liberties, human rights, and ensure strict compliance with electoral deadlines for the restoration of Constitutional order by 1 July 2024, at the latest.
“The Chairperson reaffirms the continued support of the African Union to the people of Burkina Faso to ensure peace, stability and development of the country.”
On Friday night in Burkina Faso, armed soldiers wearing fatigues and masks came on television to confirm the overthrow of President Paul-Henri Damiba, the second coup in the unstable West African nation this year.
The announcement capped a day that began with gunfire near a military camp in the capital Ouagadougou, an explosion near the presidential palace, and interruptions to state television programming.
It is a pattern that has become increasingly familiar in West and Central Africa in the past two years as Islamist insurgents wreak havoc across the arid expanses of the Sahel region, killing thousands and eroding faith in weak governments that have not found a way to beat them back.
Mali, Chad, and Guinea have all seen coups since 2020, raising fears of a to backslide towards military rule in a region that had made democratic progress over the past decade.
Burkina Faso’s new leader is army Captain Ibrahim Traore. In a scene that replicated Damiba’s own power grab in a Jan. 24 coup, Traore appeared on television surrounded by soldiers and announced the government was dissolved, the constitution suspended and the borders closed. He declared a nightly curfew.
Damiba’s whereabouts were unknown on Friday evening.
Traore said a group of officers who helped Damiba seize power in January had decided to remove their leader due to his inability to deal with the Islamists. Damiba ousted former President Roch Kabore for the same reason.
“Faced with the deteriorating situation, we tried several times to get Damiba to refocus the transition on the security question,” said the statement signed by Traore and read out by another officer on television.
The statement said Damiba had rejected proposals by the officers to reorganise the army and instead continued with the military structure that had led to the fall of the previous regime.
