Menu
Latest
Menu
Latest
News

Kaboare allowed to return home after pressure from African leaders

8 April 2022

Burkina Faso’s former President Roch Christian Kaboré, overthrown in a coup on the 24th of January and under house arrest since then, has been allowed to return to his home in Ouagadougou, according to the interim government.

While the transitional authorities assure that measures are being taken to ensure his transfer, the statement does not specify whether the former president will be free in his movements.

In a statement issued by Burkina Faso on Wednesday evening, 7 April, the government said that the transfer was the result of consultations initiated three weeks ago with Roch Kaboré.

Last month, several West African leaders had lobbied Ouagadougou for the release of the former president. For instance, ECOWAS - the Economic Community of West African States - asked the Burkinabe military government to release the former president "unconditionally and without delay".

The UN and the African Union had also expressed their dissatisfaction with the increasingly harsh conditions of Kaboré's detention under house arrest.

A delegation from the African Union was in the Burkina’s capital at the end of last week to discuss the issue and the transition timetable with the government.

The two-times democratically elected President Kaboré was overthrown on 24 January by a military junta led by Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba, unable to stem the jihadist violence that has plagued Burkina Faso since 2015. He was then placed under house arrest in conditions which, according to his party MPP - People's Movement for Progress - amounted to detention.

After the coup of 24 January 2022 - the fourth in West Africa in less than 18 months - the leader of the rebellion Paul-Henri Damiba signed a charter guaranteeing elections in 36 months.

ECOWAS’ committee chairman, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, also urged the Burkinabe military junta to shorten its proposed 36-month transition to a "more acceptable timeframe". Further sanctions would be adopted if Burkina Faso did not release former President Roch Marc Kaboré by 31 March 2022.

The supranational organisation specified in its communiqué that in case of non-compliance with its demands, members of the transitional authorities of Burkina Faso will be subject to "individual sanctions".

Sources: CommonSpace.eu with RFI (Paris), Al Jazeera (Doha) and Le Monde (Paris)
Picture: Burkina Faso's former President Roch Marc Christian at the Elysee Palace in Paris in November 2021 ; Twitter: @danwibg

Related articles

Editor's choice
News
Borrell tells the European Parliament that the situation in Afghanistan was critical, but the EU will remain engaged
Trending

Borrell tells the European Parliament that the situation in Afghanistan was critical, but the EU will remain engaged

9 June 2021
Borrell underlined that the European Union will make every effort to support the peace process and to remain a committed partner to the Afghan people. "Of course, we will have to take into account the evolving situation, but disengagement is not an option.  We are clear on that: there is no alternative to a negotiated political settlement, through inclusive peace talks.
Editor's choice
News
A new era of peace in the Eastern Mediterranean
Trending

A new era of peace in the Eastern Mediterranean

14 May 2024
A ground breaking meeting between the President of Turkiye, Recip Tayip Erdogan, and Greek Prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, on Monday (13 May) is being hailed as the dawn of a new era of peace in the Eastern Mediterranean. Mitsotakis was in Ankara as the guest of the Turkish leader. There are no unsolvable problems between Athens and Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, as he and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis praised the state of relations between the two neighbors while pledging to further enhance bilateral ties. "We had a constructive and positive meeting and discussed problems in Türkiye-Greece relations; We will solve problems through dialogue," Erdoğan said at a joint news conference with Mitsotakis. Erdoğan said that Ankara and Athens are committed to resolving issues via "cordial dialogue, good neighborly ties, and international law" as outlined in last year's Athens Declaration on Friendly Relations and Good-Neighborliness. Improvement of bilateral relations with Türkiye is yielding concrete and positive results, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said "I can only begin by thanking you for the warm hospitality today in Ankara, it was a fourth meeting in the last 10 months, which I believe proves that the two neighbors can now establish this approach of mutual understanding, no longer as some exception, but as a productive normality that is not negated by the known differences in our positions," Mitsotakis said. He said bilateral relations have been progressing, as agreed by the parties, on three levels: political dialogue, positive agenda and confidence-building measures. "I believe that it is a positive development in a difficult time for international peace, but also for the broader stability in our region," the Greek leader said.

Popular

Editor's choice
News
A new era of peace in the Eastern Mediterranean
Trending

A new era of peace in the Eastern Mediterranean

14 May 2024
A ground breaking meeting between the President of Turkiye, Recip Tayip Erdogan, and Greek Prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, on Monday (13 May) is being hailed as the dawn of a new era of peace in the Eastern Mediterranean. Mitsotakis was in Ankara as the guest of the Turkish leader. There are no unsolvable problems between Athens and Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, as he and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis praised the state of relations between the two neighbors while pledging to further enhance bilateral ties. "We had a constructive and positive meeting and discussed problems in Türkiye-Greece relations; We will solve problems through dialogue," Erdoğan said at a joint news conference with Mitsotakis. Erdoğan said that Ankara and Athens are committed to resolving issues via "cordial dialogue, good neighborly ties, and international law" as outlined in last year's Athens Declaration on Friendly Relations and Good-Neighborliness. Improvement of bilateral relations with Türkiye is yielding concrete and positive results, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said "I can only begin by thanking you for the warm hospitality today in Ankara, it was a fourth meeting in the last 10 months, which I believe proves that the two neighbors can now establish this approach of mutual understanding, no longer as some exception, but as a productive normality that is not negated by the known differences in our positions," Mitsotakis said. He said bilateral relations have been progressing, as agreed by the parties, on three levels: political dialogue, positive agenda and confidence-building measures. "I believe that it is a positive development in a difficult time for international peace, but also for the broader stability in our region," the Greek leader said.