Burkina Faso Military Announces Its Coup On Live Television

Burkina Faso’s Military Announces Its Coup On Live Television

Following a day of gunbattle in the capital, more than a dozen mutinous soldiers announced on Monday, January 24, that a military junta now controls Burkina Faso after detaining the democratically elected president.

Reading 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.

Announcing that a new Patriotic Movement for Preservation and Restoration (MPSR) would re-establish “constitutional order” within a “reasonable time”, the soldiers blamed the takeover on the civilian president’s failure to contain an Islamist insurgency.

The statement reads;

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.

“Today, the MPSR, which includes all branches of the army, has agreed to terminate President Kaboré’s tenure.

“The constitution has been declared null and void.” The government has also been disbanded. The third point is that the national assembly has been disbanded. Fourth, as of January 24, 2022, all land and air borders have been closed. Finally, from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., a curfew has been imposed.

 

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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.”