THE Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Friday condemned the seizure of power by a group of soldiers in Burkina Faso.
The regional bloc said the coup came at an inopportune time when Burkina Faso had made progress towards returning to constitutional rule following a January military takeover from a civilian government.
Burkina Faso army Captain Ibrahim Traore ousted military leader Paul-Henri Damiba on Friday, he said in a statement read on national television, the second coup this year in the troubled West African nation.
It marks the sixth military power grab in just over two years in West and Central Africa, a region that over the last decade had made strides to shed its reputation as a ‘coup belt’, only for persistent insecurity and corruption to open the door to military leaders.
Here is a list of other recent coups.
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso’s army ousted President Roch Kabore in January, blaming him for failing to contain violence by Islamist militants. Coup leader Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba pledged to restore security, but attacks have worsened, eroding morale in the ranks of the armed forces.
This week, militants killed 11 soldiers in an attack on a convoy taking supplies to a town in the north. Fifty civilians are missing. The 15-member ECOWAS suspended Burkina Faso after the coup but had since agreed to a 2-year transition back to civilian rule. It is not clear if that agreement will still stand.
Mali
A group of Malian colonels led by Assimi Goita ousted President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in August 2020. The coup followed anti-government protests over deteriorating security, contested legislative elections and allegations of corruption.
Under pressure from Mali’s West African neighbours, the junta agreed to cede power to a civilian-led interim government tasked with overseeing an 18-month transition to democratic elections in February 2022. But the coup leaders clashed with the interim president, retired colonel Bah Ndaw, and engineered a second coup in May 2021. Goita, who had served as interim vice president, was elevated to the presidency.
Goita’s government announced that it intended to delay elections by up to five years, prompting ECOWAS sanctions that crippled Mali’s already fragile economy. The bloc lifted some of the sanctions in July after Mali’s military rulers proposed a two-year transition to democracy and published a new electoral law.
Chad
Chad’s army took power in April 2021 after President Idriss Deby was killed on the battlefield while visiting troops fighting rebels in the north.
Under Chadian law, the speaker of parliament should have become president. But a military council stepped in and dissolved parliament in the name of ensuring stability. Deby’s son, General Mahamat Idriss Deby, was named interim president and tasked with overseeing an 18-month transition to elections.
The transfer of power led to riots in the capital N’Djamena that were but down by the military.
Guinea
Special forces commander Colonel Mamady Doumbouya ousted President Alpha Conde in September 2021. A year earlier, Conde had changed the constitution to circumvent limits that would have prevented him from standing for a third term, triggering widespread rioting. Doumbouya became interim president and promised a transition to democratic elections within three years.
ECOWAS rejected the timeline and imposed sanctions on junta members and their relatives, including freezing their bank accounts. In July, the regional bloc gave Guinea until October 22 to establish a ‘reasonable’ timetable, or face additional sanctions.
