October 11th of this year was slated to hold a nationwide elections and move Burkina Faso into democratic government.Last year Former President Blaise Compare was removed in a coup after more than 27years of being head of state.
A close ally of the former Burkina Faso President
Blaise Compaore lead a coup which has effectively
deposed the executive leadership of the country
yesterday. The coup, lead by General Gilbert
Diendere, detained interim President Michel Kafano
and interim Prime Minister Isaac Zida during a high
level cabinet meeting in Ouagadougou, the capital
of Burkina Faso.
Burkina Faso citizens demonstrating against
military coup in 2015
Media has also reported that in addition to seizing
control of the executive functions of the state,
soldiers raided the offices of Radio Omega and set
them on fire. Radio Omega was central in reporting
events of the 2014 protests and subsequent coup.
The coup was officially confirmed early Thursday
morning when the military spokesman, Lt. Colonel
Mamadou Bamba, made a statement saying that
President Kafando has been removed from power
and the National Transitional Council, which has
been acting as Burkina Faso’s Parliament, has
been dissolved.
The new authorities, calling themselves the
National Counsel for Democracy, have sealed the
boarders of the country, cancelled flights, and
imposed a curfew on citizens.
There has been a wave of protests and
demonstrations across Burkina Faso with labor
unions calling nationwide strikes, and there have
been at least eight people admitted to the hospital
according to reporting by the New York Times.
The whereabouts of Michel Kafando and Isaac Zida
is not presently known. Fanny Noaro, a journalist
speaking with Al Jazeera in Ouagadougou,
confirmed that there “is no information about the
transitional president and prime minister and there
is no information if they are dead or alive.”
October 11th of this year was slated to hold
nationwide elections and move Burkina Faso into a
democratic government. Last year the former
President Blaise Compaore was removed in a coup
after more than 27 years of being head of state.
Members of the international community,
particularly France, have condemned this coup.
International and civil society groups are declaring
this a major setback for Burkina Faso’s democratic
progress.
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