Burkina Faso has been suspended by the ECOWAS [ Economic community of West African States] after 18 months of military takeover.
The ECOWAS body made the announcement on Friday January 28, days after mutinous soldiers forced democratically elected President Roch Marc Christian Kabore to exit office.
The brain behind the military take over [soldiers] were said to have gone live on state television to announce a military takeover of the country, which they said was under attack from armed groups. The military rulers said its ex-president Kabore failed to cushion the violence that has killed thousands during his time in power.
From the ECOWAS official statement, A delegation of Defence chiefs from the will travel to Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou on Saturday January 29, followed by a ministerial mission a few days later, the statement said. Heads of ECOWAS member states will meet-up for another summit in Ghana’s capital Accra on Feb. 3 to discuss the findings of the two Defence chiefs delegated.
ECOWAS and its other international allies have grossly condemned the coup in Burkina Faso, which they fear could further destabilize a country beset by Islamist violence, but find themselves with limited leverage.
Current ECOWAS chairman Ghanaian president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, , described the recent spate of coups in West Africa as “a direct violation of our democratic tenets. “The rest of the world is looking up to us to be firm on this matter,” he said.
This making it the third member nation to be punished for a military takeover under 18 months.