By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Burkina Faso said on Saturday that a process to select a transitional president ahead of elections would begin next week.
This comes after the Sept 30 coup disaffected military officers against a ruling junta that failed to curtail Islamist terror organisations.
“In view of the adoption of the transition charter, a national meeting will be convened on October 14 and 15,” said the decree signed by Burkina Faso’s new strongman, Captain Ibrahim Traore, who took power a week ago.
Traore was declared president on Wednesday after a two-day standoff with Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba, who seized power in January.
Togo’s government on Monday confirmed that Damiba had arrived in the country after fleeing the capital Ouagadougou.
Traore was at the head of a core of disgruntled junior officers — but there were rumours just a few days later of discussions among some other army generals on potentially replacing him.
Demonstrators gathered in the capital of Burkina Faso on Thursday to show their support for Traore amid rumours of internal divisions in the army. After an hour of protesting a soldier sought to calm the crowd, and the new government denied rumours of a split.
“Information which has been circulating since this morning on social networks about generals meeting … is unfounded” according to a statement released by the communication ministry.
Calm has generally returned to the streets of Ouagadougou since last Friday’s coup and the turbulent weekend that followed.
Traore graduated as an officer from Burkina Faso’s Georges Namonao Military School — a second-tier institution compared to the prestigious Kadiogo Military Academy of which Damiba and others in the elite are alumni.
Damiba had “resigned” after he was overthrown on the agreement that Captain Traore will return the country to civil rule in 2024 in line with a pact with West African bloc, ECOWAS.
