January 24, (THEWILL) – Soldiers in Burkina Faso on Monday announced on state television that they have seized power in the West African country, following a mutiny over the civilian president’s failure to contain an Islamist insurgency.
“MPSR, which includes all sections of the army, has decided to end President Kabore’s post today”, A junior officer, read on National Television in a statement signed by Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
He also announced the suspension of the constitution, the dissolution of the government and parliament, and the closure of the country’s borders from midnight Monday.
The statement said the takeover had been carried out without violence and that those detained were at a secure location; adding that the new Patriotic Movement for Preservation and Restoration (MPSR) would re-establish “constitutional order” within a “reasonable time”, adding that a nationwide nightly curfew would be enforced.
It cited the deterioration of the security situation and what it described as Kabore’s inability to unite the nation and effectively respond to the challenges it faces.
Captain Sidsore Kaber Ouedraogo said that the MPSR would work to establish a calendar “acceptable to everyone” for holding new elections. He did not give details.
The statements came soon after the ruling political party warned that soldiers had nearly completed a coup in the West African nation after trying to assassinate President Roch Kabore and taking control of public airwaves.
They also said they had closed the country’s borders and promised a “return to constitutional order” within a “reasonable time”.
Earlier on Monday, African and Western powers denounced what they called an “attempted coup” and the EU demanded the “immediate” release of President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.
The United States also called for Kabore’s release and urged “members of the security forces to respect Burkina Faso’s constitution and civilian leadership.”
UN chief Antonio Guterres said in a statement he “strongly condemns any attempted takeover of government by the force of arms,” calling events a “coup.”
France, the former colonial power in Burkina Faso, urged its citizens in the country to “avoid any travel” and said that two Air France flights scheduled for late Monday had been cancelled.
West African states in the ECOWAS grouping described the latest volatility as a “coup attempt” and held “soldiers responsible for (Kabore’s) physical well-being.”
The African Union said its commission chief, Moussa Faki Mahamat, “strongly condemns the attempted coup d’etat against the democratically elected president”.
Following contradictory reports over Kabore’s whereabouts, EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell said in a statement: “We now know that President Kabore is under the control of the military.”
He called the situation “extremely worrying.”
A government source had said that Kabore was “exfiltrated” from his home late Sunday by his presidential guard “before the arrival of armed elements who fired on the vehicles of his convoy.
On Sunday, soldiers rose up at several army bases across Burkina Faso, which has been fighting the Islamist insurgency since 2015. They demanded the removal of military top brass and more resources to fight insurgents, but made no mention of seeking Kabore’s ouster.
The president, in power since 2015 and re-elected in 2020, has faced rising public anger about failure to stop the bloodshed in the poor, landlocked country.
On Monday, the People’s Movement for Progress ruling party said Kabore was the victim of an “aborted assassination attempt.” A government minister, who was not named, also survived an attempt on his life and the president’s home was ransacked, it added.
The country “is heading with each passing hour towards a military coup by force”, the ruling party said, adding that the presidential palace had been “encircled by a group of armed and masked men” and the national radio and television “occupied.”
Earlier, the ruling party urged “loyalist security forces, patriots and republicans to distance themselves from this umpteenth attempt at destabilisation (and) stand with the Burkinabe people, law and democracy.”
A message was posted on Kabore’s Twitter account urging “those who have taken up arms to lay them down in the greater interest of the nation”. It was impossible to verify whether the president wrote the tweet himself, or under what circumstances.
“We must settle our contradictions through dialogue and listening”, the tweet added.
Burkina Faso has seen several coups or attempted coups. In neighbouring Mali, where the insurgency began before crossing the border — the military toppled the civilian government in 2020.
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