Following a day of gunbattle in the capital, more than a dozen restive soldiers announced on Monday, January 24, that a military junta now controls Burkina Faso after detaining the democratically elected president.
Quoting from a statement signed by Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, a junior officer proclaimed the suspension of the constitution, the dissolution of the government and parliament, and the closing of the country’s borders as of midnight Monday.
The troops justified the takeover on the civilian president’s failure to quell an Islamist insurgency, announcing that a new Patriotic Movement for Preservation and Restoration (MPSR) would restore “constitutional order” within “reasonable time.”
They also stated that a nightly curfew will be implemented across the country. The military said that the takeover was peaceful and that those detained were being held in a secure place.
The statement read;
“MPSR, which includes all sections of the army, has decided to end President Kaboré’s post today.
“The constitution has been suspended. Secondly, the government has been dissolved. Thirdly, the national assembly has been dissolved. Fourthly, land and air borders have been closed from January 24, 2022. Lastly, a curfew has been imposed from 9pm to 5am.
Kabore has been in power since 2015, and he was re-elected in 2020 on a promise to make the fight against the insurgency a top priority. His failure to stop the slaughter in the poor, landlocked country has sparked popular outrage.
Kabore was the target of a “aborted assassination attempt,” according to the ruling People’s Movement for Progress. It was also revealed that a government minister, who was not identified, had escaped an assassination attempt and that the president’s mansion had been looted.
The presidential palace had been “encircled” by “a group of armed and masked men,” according to the party, and the national radio and television had been “occupied.”
Source: www.ghgossip.com