Home » News » Junta leader Damiba declared Burkina Faso’s President
Barely 19 days after Burkina Faso’s national armed officers, led by lieutenant-colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, forced out the country’s elected president, Roch Marc Christian Kabore, the country’s top constitutional body on Thursday declared the junta leader President.
It would be recalled that on January 24, Damiba led officers’ ceased government from Kabore, who had faced a wave of public anger over his handling of a bloody jihadist insurgency.
On January 24, the junta vowed to re-establish constitutional order within a reasonable time
The Constitutional Council on Wednesday determined that Damiba (president of the Patriotic Movement for Preservation and Restoration) is the president” of Burkina Faso.
Damiba is also head of state and supreme commander of the armed forces, it added.
The move confirmed an announcement by the junta on January 31 that said Damiba would be appointed to those roles for a transitional period and would be assisted by two vice presidents.
Damiba’s formal swearing-in would take place on February 16 in the capital Ouagadougou
In a statement issued later Thursday, the Constitutional Council said that Damiba’s formal swearing-in would take place on February 16 in the capital Ouagadougou.
The junta had last week reversed its suspension of the constitution and scrapped an overnight curfew, as the key issue of a date for elections remains unsettled.
The country has been suspended from the West African bloc ECOWAS
On January 24, the junta vowed to re-establish “constitutional order” within a “reasonable time”.
On Saturday, it announced that a 15-member commission would be set up with the goal of “drawing up a draft charter and agenda, together with a proposal for the duration of the transition period.”
The panel will be given two weeks in which to report back.
Burkina Faso is struggling with a jihadist campaign that has claimed more than 2,000 lives and forced around 1.5 million to flee their homes.
The country has been suspended from the West African bloc ECOWAS, although it escaped sanctions following last week’s restoration of the constitution.
On Wednesday, the UN Security Council expressed “serious concern” over Burkina Faso’s “unconstitutional change of government.
