The West African Community ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States, on Monday, suspended Burkina Faso after the military took control of the nation.
On Monday, the Economy Community of West African States suspended Burkina Faso until the restoration of constitutional order in the country, as announced by the organisation on Twitter. The suspension has come after the military took control over the nation by removing the democratically elected Roch Marc Christian Kabore, the President of Burkina Faso. The President was forcefully removed in a coup and the soldiers claimed that the government was not able to control the violence from Islamic Extremists in the nation.
This is the third country in the region to get suspended for military takeovers by the 15-nation West African group. In the last one and a half years, Mali, Guinea, and now Burkina Faso have faced suspension. The officials have said that Burkina Faso will be unable to participate in any meetings or decision making. There were no sanctions imposed on the nation by ECOWAS after a joint delegation with the head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, arrived in the capital city, Ouagadougou.
The mediators have asked the military junta that has taken over the country to establish constitutional rule in the country otherwise the nation will not be provided with any international support. A specific time period has been mentioned by two of the officials and they also revealed that a small group from the delegation have also visited Kabore. The President after being detained last week by the junta has not been heard or seen since then.
An ECOWAS summit has been scheduled for Thursday to discuss the situation of Mali and Burkina Faso. Both of these nations are under harsh economic and travel sanctions because the coup has not been able to set up a democratically elected government.
The junta in Burkina Faso has stated that they have chosen their leader, Lt. Col Paul Henri Damiba as the country’s new President. The military junta has criticised the former President and said that he did not address the extremist violence taking place in the country which has led to the killing and displacement of thousands of people. Damiba, in his first address to the nation, said that he would return the constitutional order in the nation when the right conditions will prevail.
The five nations including Mali, Guinea, Chad, Sudan, and Burkina Faso have experienced military coups in recent times and this has alarmed the civilian leaders of the region. The President of Ghana, Nana Afuko-Addo, in this regard said that the military takeover represents a threat to peace, security, and stability in Western Africa.