BURKINA FASO: IN THE SECOND COUP OF THE YEAR, MILITARY OFFICERS REMOVE PRESIDENT DAMIBA

Sat 01 October 2022:

In the second coup in a year, Paul-Henri Damiba, the head of the military in Burkina Faso, was overthrown. Army Captain Ibrahim Traore then dissolved the transitional government and suspended the constitution.

Traore stated on Friday night that a group of officers had chosen to remove Damiba because of his incapacity to handle the country’s escalating armed uprising. The captain had previously served as the special operations unit “Cobra” commander in Kaya’s northern region.

“We have decided to take our responsibilities, driven by a single ideal: the restoration of security and integrity of our territory,” announced soldiers on state television and radio.

The West African state has been taken over twice in the last eight months. Frustration over the escalating insecurity played a role in the coup that installed Damiba as president in January, overthrowing former President Roch Kabore.

Burkina Faso has been battling to keep out rebel groups, some of which are connected to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) vehemently denounced the coup on Friday, saying it occurred at a “inopportune” time when steps were being taken to restore constitutional order.

“ECOWAS reaffirms its unequivocal opposition to any seizure or maintenance of power by unconstitutional means,” the regional bloc said in a statement shared on social media.

Curfew imposed, borders shut

Traore announced on Friday that all political and civil society activities had been suspended and that the borders had been closed indefinitely. There was also a 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew announced.

“Faced with the deteriorating situation, we tried several times to get Damiba to refocus the transition on the security question,” said the statement signed by Traore and read out by another officer on television, flanked by a group of soldiers in military fatigues and heavy armour.

The statement said 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.

“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,” the statement said.

National stakeholders will be invited soon to adopt a new transitional charter and designate a new civilian or military president, it said.

Earlier on Friday, the Burkina Faso government claimed that troop deployments in strategic parts of the capital were the result of a “internal crisis” within the army, adding that talks were in progress after shots were fired just before dawn.

For a number of hours, the state television was not working and only broadcast a blank screen with the message “no video signal.”

Damiba’s fate is still a mystery.

When he took over on January 24, the deposed leader had pledged to put security first. However, since March, violent attacks have increased.

Rebel fighters who have blown up bridges and attacked supply convoys have blockaded towns in the north and east.

Since 2015, when the unrest spread to Burkina Faso, which has since become the epicenter of the violence throughout the Sahel, thousands have died and about two million people have been displaced by the fighting.

In September, a particularly bloody month, Damiba sacked his defence minister and assumed the role himself.

With much of the Sahel region battling growing unrest, the violence has prompted a series of coups in Mali, Guinea and Chad since 2020.

The United Nations had voiced concern and appealed for calm.

“Burkina Faso needs peace, it needs stability, and it needs unity in order to fight terrorist groups and criminal networks operating in parts of the country,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.