A West African delegation is expected this Monday, October 3, 2022 in Ouagadougou, after two days of tension marked by anti-French demonstrations.
Monday morning, the streets of the capital Ouagadougou had regained their calm after sometimes violent demonstrations partly provoked by the refusal of the leader of the junta, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, to accept his dismissal announced Friday by a young 34-year-old captain, Ibrahim Traoré.
Following mediation by religious and community leaders, very influential in Burkina Faso, Colonel Damiba, who came to power by a putsch on January 24, 2022, finally agreed to resign, which helped to lower tensions. The deposed junta leader took refuge in Lomé.
In exchange for his resignation, he asked that his own safety, that of his collaborators and the soldiers who supported him, be guaranteed.
These requests were accepted by Captain Traoré who also promised to respect the commitments made by his predecessor to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on the organization of elections and a return of civilians to power by July 2024.