The Burkina Faso army, which carried out a coup d’Etat in that nation, warned former ministers not to forsake Ouagadougou, the capital city, or obstruct the military during talks over the transitional period in how to return to democratic elections, one of the politicians present said.
The so-called Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR) officers removed Burkina’s President Roch Kabore last Monday, alleging his government had failed to contain worsening violence by armed groups. The movement has also stated that it had scheduled a calendar to return to constitutional order “within a reasonable timeframe.” Still, it is not elaborated yet on its plans for a transition.
On Wednesday, Lieutenant Colonel Henri-Paul Damiba, the MPSR’s leader, held a meeting with members of the overthrown government of Kabore. The movement’s leader warned the former ministers not to interfere with military actions or leave the city, adding that any contribution they could offer to the transition would be welcomed.
On Thursday, the movement’s army met a group of trade union leaders in Ouagadougou. “[Damiba] assured us that we will be consulted and included in what will be put in place,” noted Marcel Zante, head of an umbrella grouping of 130 unions. “Now we are waiting to see what happens on the ground,” he said.
A meeting scheduled for Friday of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) aims to discuss a response to the coup.
ECOWAS released a statement on Tuesday, saying the bloc “firmly condemns” the coup d’Etat, with accusations about the military forcing Kabore to resign “under threat, intimidation, and pressure.”
In August 2020 and September 2021, the ECOWAS imposed sanctions on Mali and Guinea after military takeovers. The deputy head of Kabore’s People’s Movement for Progress (MPP) party respectively highlighted that “the junta has to do its utmost to prevent international sanctions for Burkina Faso.”
