The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) “strongly condemns the military coup in Burkina Faso” and announces “an extraordinary summit in the coming days to examine the situation.”
The regional organization, in a statement issued on Wednesday, January 26, 2022, notes that “despite calls from the regional and international community for calm and respect for constitutional legality, the situation in Burkina Faso is characterised by a military coup on Monday, January 24, 2022.” Ecowas denounces that “the resignation of President Roch Marc Christian Kabore” was obtained “through threat, intimidation and pressure from the military after two days of mutiny.”
Ecowas considers that this coup d’Etat marks “a major democratic setback for Burkina Faso. As a result, the intergovernmental organization announced “an extraordinary summit of Ecowas in the next few days to examine the situation” in this West African state, which has been shaken for several years by a security crisis linked to the jihadist threat spreading in the Sahel.
On Monday, January 24, the President of the Ecowas Commission, Jean Claude Kassi Brou, called for calm before warning the military that they would be responsible for whatever happened to the physical integrity of President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.
Since Monday, Burkina Faso has been presided over by a military junta led by Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, on behalf of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR). The new regime announced in a speech on public television the dissolution of the government and the National Assembly, as well as the suspension of the Constitution. The military also announced the closure of land and air borders from midnight on the same day until further notice. The MPSR then pledged a “return to constitutional order” within a “reasonable time.”
This military coup is the third putsch in eight months in West Africa. In Mali, Colonel Assimi Goita, who had deposed President-elect Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (IBK) in August 2020, dismissed in May 2021 the transitional president and Prime Minister that he had co-opted a few months earlier. In Guinea, Colonel Mamadi Doumbouya, head of the army’s Special Forces, also overthrew President Alpha Conde on September 6. The ruling juntas in these two countries have been under intense international pressure to organise a rapid return to constitutional order, which they do not seem to be in a hurry to do at the moment.
CD/fss/abj/APA