For the second time in the second coup in eight months, there has been another coup in Burkina Faso.
Army Captain Ibrahim Traore announced on national television on Friday night that he had overthrown military chief Paul-Henri Damiba and disbanded the government at Ouagadougou on Friday, September 30th.
In order to deal with a deepening Islamist insurgency, Traore claimed that a number of officers who had assisted Military Leader (Now former) Paul – Henri Damiba in assuming control in January had chosen to have their leader removed. For the same reason, Damiba had deposed former president Roch Kabore in January.
The borders have been blocked indefinitely, the constitution has been suspended, the transitional charter has been dissolved, and all political and civil society activities have been put on hold, according to Traore as a curfew has been imposed 2100 and 0500 GMT.
“Faced with the deteriorating situation, we tried several times to get Damiba to refocus the transition on the security question,” Those were the words of the declaration signed by Traore and read aloud on television by another commander, flanked by a squad of soldiers wearing heavy armour and gears.
According to the statement, Damiba refused the officers’ suggestions to reorganize the army and instead stuck with the military setup that had caused the previous government to fail.
“Damiba’s actions gradually convinced us that his ambitions were diverting away from what we set out to do. We decided this day to remove Damiba,” it continued.
According to the statement, national stakeholders will soon be called to establish a new transitional charter and choose a new civilian or military president.
Source: Reuter
