Demonstrators in several towns in Burkina Faso are opposing the possible departure of Captain Ibrahim Traore, who came to power in last month’s coup against Lieutenant Colonel Paul Henri Damiba.
In Burkina Faso, the national conference scheduled for 14 and 15 October is likely to be held under high tension. On the eve of these consultations to which the Head of State of Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traore has invited the nation’s active forces, spontaneous demonstrations have been noted in several cities, APAnews has noted.
In Ouagadougou and Kaya, the roads are blocked while in Bobo Dioulasso, 355 kilometres east of Ouagadougou, the market has been closed, local sources said. The demonstrators are demanding that Captain Traore remain in power. “We will keep up the pressure. If at the end of the meeting, Captain Traoré is not confirmed, we will harden our tone,” threatened a demonstrator in Bobo-Dioulasso.
On Friday 30 September, Captain Traoré dismissed Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, himself author of the January 24 coup against Roch March Christian Kaboré. The young junior officer and his comrades of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR) reproach Lieutenant Colonel Damiba for his risky choices in the fight against jihadist groups.
The new strong man of the country, installed in his functions as head of state by a fundamental act, met with the secretaries general of the ministries, responsible for expediting current affairs and urged them to accelerate the pace of tasks assigned to them. He also called for national consultations to draw up a transitional charter that will enable the country of men of integrity to move towards the handover of power to a civilian. But for some Burkinabe, Captain Traoré remains the man for the job, especially as he seems to be in favour of a rapprochement with Russia to get out of the security abyss into which this Sahelian country has been plunged for the last ten years.
DS/ac/lb/abj/APA