The adoption of a bill revising the Constitution, this is the main information from the Council of Ministers. As implications included in this bill, the Minister of Justice, Rodrigue Bayala, has indicated that French will become a working language and national languages will become official languages.

Institutions such as the Ombudsman of Faso and the Economic and Social Council (ESC) will also be abolished. Their duties and functions will be entrusted to an institution called the “Conseil national des communautés”. According to the minister in charge of justice, this new institution will be composed of religious leaders, customary and grassroots communities.

The transformation of the National Intelligence Agency into the National Security Council, a body that will be constitutionalized and the abolition of the High Court of Justice are also reforms contained in the draft text.

Burkina Faso is not “enemy” of the “French people”, said Captain Ibrahim Traoré, transitional president, following a coup d’état, in an interview broadcast Wednesday, September 06, 2023 by Radio television of Burkina (RTB, public.

“We are not enemies with the French people, it is the policy of those who lead France that poses a problem in Africa, so as long as a state is not in an imperialist spirit (…) there is no problem,” he said in the interview recorded on 31 August.

Burkina has been looking for new cooperation ever since. We have new partners who support us in terms of equipment and so on,’ he added, without naming them.

Burkina Faso’s Foreign Minister, Olivia Rouamba, on Monday expressed her country’s desire to “strengthen bilateral cooperation” with Iran, during a meeting in Tehran with President Ebrahim Raïssi.

A Russian delegation exchanged with Mr. Traoré last week in Ouagadougou, on issues of development and military cooperation and Captain Traoré went to Saint Petersburg in July for the Russia-Africa summit.

He reaffirmed his country’s support for Niger, the scene of a coup d’état on 26 July, with which Burkina shares the so-called “three-border” zone between Mali, Niger and Burkina, considered a hideout of jihadist groups.

The security services of Burkina Faso, plagued by recurrent jihadi violence, published on Thursday, June 8, 2023 a list of 20 «actively wanted terrorists», offering bonuses for their arrest or «neutralization» ranging from 150,000 to 275,000 euros. The individuals whose portraits have been broadcast on local media are “actively sought out for participation or complicity in the planning or conduct of terrorist acts.” ‘If you provide information that would allow the arrest or incapacitation of one of these individuals, you will receive the amount indicated on the photo of the person concerned,’ says a message from the Ministry of Security, published with the portraits.

At the top of the list are Sidibé Dramane alias Hamza and Diallo Moussa alias Abou Ganiou, aged 45 and 40 respectively. The Burkinabe authorities offer 180 million CFA francs (about 275,000 euros) for the capture of each of them. «Hamza» is a close friend of Malian Amadou Kufa, an important leader of the Group for Support of Islam and Muslims (Jnim in Arabic), the main coalition affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Sahel. The list also includes leaders of katiba (combat unit of jihadist groups) including Dicko Hamadoun alias Suu-ka Maldê and Bolly Oumarou alias Oumi whose heads are priced for 175 million FCFA (265.00 euros) each. The wanted persons are all Burkinabè, mostly born in the northern region, with the exception of Sita Housseini alias Lookmann, a 33-year-old Nigerian.

Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been caught in a spiral of jihadi violence that had emerged in Mali and Niger a few years earlier and spread beyond their borders. More than 10,000 civilians and soldiers have been killed in the past seven years, according to NGOs, and more than two million internally displaced persons. According to the government, the army controls 65% of the national territory. The wanted persons are all Burkinabè, mostly born in the northern region, with the exception of Sita Housseini alias Lookmann, a 33-year-old Nigerian.

Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been caught in a spiral of jihadi violence that had emerged in Mali and Niger a few years earlier and spread beyond their borders. More than 10,000 civilians and soldiers have been killed in the past seven years, according to NGOs, and more than two million internally displaced persons. According to the government, the army controls 65% of the national territory. Burkina has been ruled since last September by a military junta led by Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who came to power after a coup, the second in eight months.