Amidst increasingly rigorous administrative procedures, Burkinabe authorities are continuing their
sweeping operation to bring civil society groups into compliance, with a new wave of suspensions, totaling 205, adding to an already substantial toll in just a few weeks.
The Burkinabe government suspended 205 additional associations as of Tuesday, bringing the number of organisations subject to administrative measures to several hundred in less than a month.
According to the decree issued by the Minister of Territorial Administration, Emile Zerbo, the 205 associations are suspended “due to the failure to renew their governing bodies in accordance with
their statutes and internal regulations and the law in force.”
During the suspension, “only actions aimed at regularizing the situation of each association are authorized,” the text specifies. The lifting of the suspension is contingent upon obtaining a certificate of renewal.
This latest wave is part of a series of measures initiated in mid-April.
On April 21, the same minister had already suspended 359 associations for the same reason. Previously, on April 15, a decree had dissolved 118 organisations, prohibiting them from operating
“throughout the national territory,” under penalty of sanctions.
In less than three weeks, more than 680 associations in Burkina Faso have been suspended or dissolved.
HO/ac/Sf/fss/as/APA