Burkina Faso, a West African nation has suspended the military accord of 2018 with France and asked the stationed French troops to leave by the end of the month.
In the 1960s, Burkina Faso became a self-governing nation within the French colony. Today, Agence d’Information du Burkina (AIB) announced the decision to end diplomatic relations between France and Burkina Faso. The nation is continuously witnessing political instability stemming towards a seven-year-long armed uprising that has claimed thousands of lives and driven nearly two million people from their homes.
The French military has been stationed in the country to fight against terrorist-affiliated groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIL. The AIB said the military government on Wednesday suspended a 2018 military accord that allowed the presence of French troops in the country. No comments from France have come yet.
“Despite their presence on Burkinabe soil with huge equipment and their power at the intelligence level, they couldn’t help us defeat terrorism, it therefore was time for us to get rid of them, and that’s what the transition government is doing with a lot of boldness” said Passamde Sawadogo, a prominent civil society activist and reggae singer while talking to the Associated Press news agency.
President Traore’s Promise
Ibrahim Traore has been sworn in as interim president of Burkina Faso, several weeks after Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba was removed in a coup. “Our aims are none other than the reconquest of territory occupied by these hordes of terrorists,” he added after taking the oath in October last year. “Burkina’s existence is in danger”.
Demonstrations in the Capital
Widespread protests were seen in Africa’s poorest nation-state. Rallying in the capital, Ouagadougou, demanding the expulsion of the French envoy and the closure of its military base in Burkina Faso. Protestors carried posters of leaders of Russia, Mali and Guinea – they came to power after military coups.
Mohamed Sinon, one of the organisers of the demonstration said, “We are a pan-African movement and we want cooperation between Burkina Faso and Russia, but also the strengthening of friendship and of cooperation with Guinea and Mali.” The rally is a way to support the president and the national security forces in fighting terrorist affiliate groups.
Historical Inspiration
Similar coups based on independence from France have occurred in the last decade in Africa, which has become a source of inspiration for Burkina Faso. Mali, Niger and Chad are some examples. In Mali, the last of the 2,400 French troops stationed there left in August after nine years fighting al-Qaeda and ISIL-affiliated groups. Mali has now hired Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group, who have been accused of widespread human rights abuses there and elsewhere.
Colonial Relationship between France ad Burkina Faso
The country at first attached to Upper Senegal–Niger but in 1919 it became a part of a separate colony, Upper Volta. In 1947, however, Upper Volta was reestablished to become an overseas territory of the French Union, with a territorial assembly of its own.
The assembly in 1957 received the right to elect an executive council of government for the territory. By the end of 1958, Burkina Faso was transformed into an autonomous republic within the French Community. When independence was proclaimed on August 5, 1960, the new constitution provided for an executive president elected by universal adult suffrage for a five-year term and an elected Legislative Assembly. The name Burkina Faso, which means “Land of Incorruptible People,” was adopted in 1984.
