Burkina Faso: Military junta appoints coup leader Traore as new president

Captain Ibrahim Traore has been appointed as the new president of Burkina Faso by the military council following the coup that the country witnessed last week.

The military statement issued on Wednesday said that Traore will now be the guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity and the continuity of the state.

“The President of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR) assumes the position of Head of State and Supreme Commander of the National Armed Forces. He is the guarantor of the independence of the judiciary. In the event that the President is unable to act, his powers are exercised by the First Vice President and, if necessary, the Second Vice President,” said MPSR spokesperson Captain Kiswondida Farouk Azaria Surgo, speaking on national television.

The military coup is the second in Burkina Faso in less than nine months.

In January, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba announced that he had dismissed President Rosh Kabore, suspended the constitution, dissolved the government and the National Assembly, and closed the country's borders.

But only nine months later, a faction of disaffected junior officers led by Captain Traore toppled him.

According to commentators, the military and popular discontent was caused by the failure of the counter-insurgency campaign against the Islamic rebellion that caused political and economic instability in the West African country.

Over the past seven years, Burkina Faso has been suffering from an insurgency led by Islamic jihadist movements, which has killed thousands, forced nearly two million people to flee their homes, and made more than a third of the country out of government control.

Many supporters of the January coup became dissatisfied with the performance of Damiba, the leader of the junta, regarding his inability to contain the jihadist insurgency.

Traore later claimed that he and other officers tried to persuade Damiba to “refocus” on the rebellion, but chose to eventually overthrow him because “his ambitions were diverting away from what we set out to do.” Resentment of the situation was highest among the younger officers who fought the rebels on the front lines.

In addition, there was a delay in the payment of salaries to the Cobra special forces of the Burkinabe army. When the conspirators launched their coup on September 30, Traore held the rank of captain.

The coup was carried out with the support of the Cobra unit, and Traore declared himself the new president of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR).

International condemnation

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attempts to seize power by force of arms, calling on all parties to refrain from violence and to seek dialogue.

“Burkina Faso needs peace, stability, and unity to fight terrorist groups and criminal networks operating in parts of the country,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Guterres, in a statement.

Coups disease in Africa

The African continent has been suffering from the phenomenon of military coups since most African countries gained their independence in the mid to late twentieth century.

Jonathan Powell, professor of international affairs at the University of Central Florida, and Clayton Thyne, professor of political science at the University of Kentucky, found that of the 486 coup attempts that have been successful or have been carried out worldwide since 1950, nearly half (about 214) have occurred in Africa, of which 106 were successful.

With the optimism that pervaded the continent in the second decade of the twentieth century, some believed that democracy was advancing throughout Africa. Between 2015 and 2019, there was only one successful coup across the continent.

However, from 2019 to date, there have been at least seven successful coups on the African continent, most of them in West Africa.

The African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have voiced their opposition to the coups and have imposed sanctions on the coup plotters, including travel bans, border closures, and financial sanctions.

However, many feel that such sanctions are not enough.