The government of prime minister Apollinaire Kyelem de Tambéla has made the fight against terrorism its main priority, according to junta head Captain Ibrahim Traore.
The Burkinabe transition is happening at a fast pace.
Barely appointed Tuesday, members of the executive have exchanged with Captain Traore and spoke about his priorities, Wednesday, October 26, 2022, at the Prime Minister’s Office.
The first warning came from the head of government, himself a disciple and champion doctrines thought to have originated from Thomas Sankara.
“It is a combative government that has just been formed” warned de Tambéla.
He said that the action of his government will contribute to the achievement of three main objectives.
“The first objective, the main one and the priority, is the security of the territory,” said the Prime Minister. Every Burkinabe can contribute to this, he said.
The army has launched the recruitment of 3,000 rank and file soldiers and 50,000 Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland (VDP) to deal with the violence by jihadist groups that occupy about 40% of the territory.
The second component concerns “improving the quality of Burkinabe’s life,” so that everyone “can live pleasantly in their environment,” the head of government stressed.
In May and August 2022, the price of fuel had risen successively, leading to a general increase in the cost of basic necessities and public transport.
Inflation rose from 7.2% in January 2022 to 17.8% in June 2022, an increase of 10% in six months, by far the highest inflation rate in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) zone, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Demography (INSD).
Finally, Mr Kyelem de Tambéla’s team intends to “improve the system of governance” by questioning the causes of “political instability” in Burkina Faso.
The country witnessed two coups in less than eight months.
At the end of January 2022, Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba overthrew Roch Kaboré, the country’s first democratically elected president.
In late September, he was deposed by Captain Traoré.
The country has been facing a jihadist insurgency for the past seven years, making successive governments vulnerable.
DS/ac/lb/as/APA