The latest captain to run the country wants militias, censorship and army discipline to save the nation from the jihadists, and he doesn’t want help, Military junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traoré is setting out his programme for victory in the war against militant jihadists, who have taken 40% of the country, killed thousands and caused 2.5 million to flee. The jihadists are also using the country as a springboard for attacks on Burkina Faso s neighbours, most recently Togo and Benin.
Beset by jihadist insurgents, the juntas in Mali and Burkina Faso are shakier than Guinea – but none offer long-term answers to their countries problems, The military juntas running Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso – in place since August 2020, September 2021, and January 2022 respectively – are set, according to their own timetables, for transition to what the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) calls constitutional rule between mid-2024 and early 2025.
New leader Captain Traoré says security crisis forced his faction to seize power but it could work with Russia, Turkey or the US military, On 3 October, a day after he was confirmed in power in Ougadougou, new military leader Captain Ibrahim Traoré told a sceptical audience that he understood the urgency of the security crisis: We must move quickly and not be hindered by all kinds of red tape .
Pierre-Henri Damiba s military regime is managing the politics better than its war against the insurgents, Of the three military regimes in West Africa under pressure to hand over to civilians, Burkina Faso s junta led by Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba is proving the most adept at navigating national and regional politics.
African activists and politicians offer mixed reviews of President Macron s record but agree that his closest rival would be disastrous for them, Emmanuel Macron, who has been called France s first post-colonial president , is bidding for re-election after a first term in which colonial history cast a long shadow on policies ranging from climate change, job creation, and migration to regional security.