African Leaders Press Burkina Faso Army Give up Power

African leaders were headed for Burkina Faso on Wednesday to pressure the army into keeping its promise to hand power back to civilians within a fortnight after the fall of president Blaise Compaore.

Isaac Zida, the interim leader appointed by Burkina Faso’s military, told unions on Tuesday that he would return the country to civilian rule, a day after the African Union threatened sanctions if the army did not give up power.
The presidents of Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal were due to arrive in Burkina Faso on Wednesday to press the issue, as Canada suspended its aid to the impoverished West African country and other nations considered similar moves.
In the aftermath of Compaore’s exit, the army’s decision to take over the reins of the country once again sparked angry protests at home and prompted threats of sanctions from the international community.
But the army has claimed that “power does not interest us” and pledged to install a unity government with a “broad consensus”. Zida has repeated the promise in meetings with opposition and civil society leaders as well as foreign envoys.


“If everyone agrees, there is no reason that the transition (from military rule) shouldn’t be done within two weeks,” Zida said on Tuesday, according to union leader Joseph Tiendrebeogo.
Mogho Naba, the “king” of Burkina Faso’s leading Mossi tribe, told AFP he had met Zida on Tuesday. “They came to tell us that they would hand back power to civilians,” he said. “The country should regain peace and quiet.”
The army has made similar pledges over the past couple of days, without taking concrete action so far. Under the constitution, which has been suspended, the parliament speaker was supposed to take over as transitional leader.

But the whereabouts of current speaker Soungalo Ouattara, a close ally of Compaore, are unknown.

Credit: Yahoo News