Ibrahim Traore, army captain in Burkina Faso, has ousted
Paul-Henri Damiba, the country’s military leader.
Traore announced the development in a national broadcast on
Friday evening.
Earlier on Friday, we had reported that heavy gunfire
was heard from the main military base and some residential areas in
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital.
A number of armed soldiers had also been positioned along
the road leading to the presidential palace.
However, Damiba, in a statement via the presidency’s
Facebook hours later, said the incident was the result of mood swing of
soldiers, adding that people should not panic over what they are reading on
social media.
He had also said discussions were underway to restore calm.
Traore, in a national broadcast on Friday, cited Damiba’s
inability to deliver on his promises as the reason for the coup.
“Faced with the
deteriorating situation, we tried several times to get Damiba to refocus the
transition on the security question,” he said.
“Damiba’s actions gradually convinced us that his ambitions
were diverting away from what we set out to do. We decided this day to remove
Damiba.”
According to Traore, Damiba had rejected proposals by the
officers to reorganise the army and instead continued with the military
structure that had led to the fall of the previous government.
He added that national stakeholders will soon be invited to
adopt a new transitional charter and designate a new civilian or military
president.
He also announced that borders were closed indefinitely and
all political activities were suspended.
The development makes it the country’s second coup in eight
months.
On January 24, Burkina Faso’s army led by Damiba overthrew
President Roch Kabore, suspended the constitution, dissolved the government and
closed the country’s borders.
The coup leaders cited the worsening security situation and
what they described as Kabore’s failure to unite the nation and successfully
address challenges, including insurgency.
Damiba had said he would restore security after years of
violence but his administration has not been able to effectively end
insurgency.
This is Burkina Faso’s eighth successful coup since its
independence in 1960.
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