In a televised message to the country and the world, a group of soldiers from the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR), an unheard of arm confirmed the military takeover from President Roch Kabore who was serving his second term at the helm of the Western nation bringing to an end to a two-day unrest in the capital Ouagadougou.
According to the soldiers, their military takeover was necessitated by deteriorating security situation in the country and further described the now detained President as unable to unite the country and effectively respond to Islamist insurgency and other challenges.
“MPSR, which includes all sections of the army, has decided to end President Kabore’s post today,” said Captain Sidsore Kader Ouedraogo who was reading the statement on Radiodiffusion Television du Burkina (RTB). The statement was signed by Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, a lieutenant colonel appointed to oversee security in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou.
The soldiers dissolved the government and the national assembly before suspending the country’s constitution and imposing an overnight curfew.
While the statement said the MPSR would re-establish constitutional order, the latest activities in the western region of the continent have attracted international reaction from the UN, ECOWAS, AU, EU, France and the US.
On his official twitter account, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres strongly condemned any attempted takeover of government by the force of arms urging the coup leaders to lay down their arms & ensure the safety of the President and the protection of the country’s institutions.
The whereabouts of Kabore and those arrested are still unknown with the military maintaining that the takeover was done without violence adding that those arrested are held in a safe place with respect for their dignity.
The landlocked country now joins other African countries including Chad, Mali and Guinea that have witnessed military takeover in less than two years. Whether Burkina Faso will face economic sanctions is still unknown.
