Burkina Faso restores constitution, names coup leader president

The military resumption constitution was suspended after the takeover and coup leader Paul-Henri Sandago Damiba was appointed interim president.

Burkina Faso’s military government said it had restored the constitution a week later take power and appointed the coup leader as head of state for a transitional period.

The move comes soon after the African Union (AU). Burkina Faso suspended Demanded annexation from West Africa and the United Nations and a return to civilian rule for diplomats.

In a statement read on television on Monday, the military government announced that it had approved a “fundamental act” that “removes the suspension of the Constitution”, a move announced after the January 24 coup went.

According to the statement, the 37-article document guarantees the independence and presumption of innocence of the judiciary as well as basic freedoms mentioned in the Constitution such as freedom of movement and freedom of speech.

Under the “Fundamental Act”, it said, the military government – officially named the Patriotic Movement for Protection and Restoration (MPSR) – “ensures the continuity of the state pending the establishment of transitional bodies”.

No timeline for the transition period is given in the statement.

This formally identified the coup leader Lieutenant-Col. Paul-Henri Sandogo Damiba As the Chairman of MPSR.

This role also includes “the president of Burkina Faso, the head of state (and) the supreme leader of the armed forces,” the statement said.

The statement said the MPSR has two vice-presidents, but did not mention any names.

A separate decree read on television said Gilbert Oudraogo, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, is stepping down.

ECOWAS says cabaret is ‘fine’

Just hours earlier, the AU’s 15-member Peace and Security Council said on Twitter that it had voted “to suspend #BurkinaFaso’s participation in all AU activities until the effective restoration of constitutional order in the country”.

On Friday, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) also suspended Burkina Faso from its ranks and warned of possible sanctions pending the outcome of meetings with the military government.

An ECOWAS mission headed by Ghana’s Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Bochwe arrived in Ouagadougou, where it was joined by the United Nations Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), Annadif Khatir Mahamat Saleh.

A representative said that after meeting members of the military government, some of the delegation met with ousted President Roch Marc Christian Cabore, who is under house arrest.

Bochwe, the head of the ECOWAS delegation, said she had met Kabore and was well and “in good spirits”, Reuters news agency reported.

His well being and demands for his release have been major issues since the coup.

ECOWAS sent military chiefs to hold talks with Damiba on Saturday.

The bloc’s leaders will hold a summit in Accra on Thursday to assess their two missions to see whether they should impose sanctions.

He has previously suspended and enforced sanctions against two other members – Mali and Guinea – who have also seen military coups in the past 18 months.

On 24 January, rebel troops took Kabore into custody amid public anger over the armed groups’ failure to stop the violence ravaging the impoverished nation.

He later released a handwritten letter in which he announced his resignation – a document which a member of his party had described as authentic.

The coup is the latest bout of turmoil to attack Burkina Faso, a landlocked state that has suffered chronic instability since gaining independence from France in 1960.