BURKINA FASO
BURKINA FASO – Draft revision of the constitution: The ESC and the Ombudsman of Faso removed, French will no longer be the official language
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
BURKINA FASO – A major terrorist attack targets the city of Djibo in the Sahel
The city of Djibo, located in the Sahel region, was the subject of a terrorist attack in the afternoon of Sunday, November 26, 2023. Numerous assailants arrived by motorcycle and car stormed the camp of the group of anti-terrorist forces and several strategic sites of the city. For more than two hours, they shot at the people, burned and looted everything they could. For the moment, no official communication on the outcome of this attack.
According to the news agency of Burkina it is «nearly 3,000 terrorists» who attacked the city of Djibo. Witnesses on the spot explain that the attackers came in large numbers and attacked the strategic points of the city, including the camp of the military detachment.
“The fighting was particularly violent at the military camp,” Burkina Faso’s news agency said. For several hours, the attackers occupied it just like the rest of the city. A security source reveals that “soldiers fell, all collective weapons, all ammunition and armoured vehicles carried away.”
A counter-offensive was carried out and «more than 400 terrorists» killed, says the Burkina news agency. A figure that cannot be independently verified. In addition, the agency does not mention possible losses and material damage, on the side of the Burkinabe forces.
For more than two years, the city of Djibo has been under the blockade of armed terrorist groups. The inhabitants are supplied by a WFP airlift or by the rare convoys escorted by the army of Burkina Faso. These convoys are regularly attacked by armed terrorist groups.
A LA UNE
BURKINA FASO – Captain Traoré: “We are not enemies of the French people”
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.
BURKINA FASO
BURKINA FASO – The country offers up to €275,000 for actively wanted individuals
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.
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