Lieutenant Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, President of the transition in Burkina Faso, has dismissed his Minister of Defense and now assumes this portfollio.
General Aime Barthelemy Simpore has been replaced by the President of the transition in the Ministry of Defense and Veterans.
The announcement was made on the evening of Monday 12 September by the Permanent Secretary of the government, Jacques Sosthene Dingara on Burkina Faso’s national television. In addition to his duties as President of the transition, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba has taken on the duties of Minister of Defense and Veterans.
The Head of State of Burkina Faso replaces General Aime Barthelemy Simpore in this position. Colonel Major Silas Keita has been appointed Minister Delegate to the Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs, in charge of Defense.
This new reorganization of the government comes a few days after the address to the nation by the President of the Transition. In this speech delivered from the town of Dori, in the north of the country where jihadist violence has been raging for nearly a decade, the Burkinabe head of state provided an assessment of his eight months of management, following a coup against Roch Marc Christian Kabore.
Lieutenant-Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba argued during the exercise that the Burkinabe armed forces have recorded victories in the war against jihadist groups affiliated with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.
AC/cgd/fss/abj/APA