(Ouagadougou) The president of the transition in Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who came to power in a coup at the end of September, appointed on Tuesday evening a government of 23 ministers, including three soldiers, to lead the country until the return to a constitutional order, in July 2024.
Posted at 5:33 p.m.
Updated at 5:46 p.m.
Colonel-Major Kassoum Coulibaly has been appointed Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs, a key post in this country plagued by deadly jihadist violence.
Two other officers enter this government: Colonel Boukare Zoungrana, who inherits the portfolio of Territorial Administration, Decentralization and Security and Colonel Augustin Kaboré in the Environment, according to a decree read on public television.
Colonel Zoungrana was until now commander of the Patriotic Watch and Defense Brigade (BVDP) which coordinates the actions of volunteers for the defense of the homeland, civilian auxiliaries of the army.
Five ministers who were already in government under Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, the president overthrown by a military coup at the end of September, have been reappointed to this new cabinet which has five women.
They are Bassolma Bazié (Civil Service), Olivia Rouamba (Foreign Affairs) and her Minister Delegate Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré, Robert Lucien Kargougou (Health), and Aminata Zerbo (Digital Transition).
On Friday, the president of the transition, captain Ibrahim Traoré, had appointed as prime minister, Appolinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tembela, a 64-year-old lawyer, who until then headed the Center for International and Strategic Research, a think tank.
On October 14, a charter was adopted providing for the establishment of a government not exceeding 25 members and a legislative assembly of 71 members.
This charter indicates that the mandate of the transitional president must end with the holding of a presidential election scheduled for July 2024.
On January 24, soldiers led by Lieutenant-Colonel Damiba and grouped in a junta called the Patriotic Movement for Safeguarding and Restoration (MPSR) overthrew President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, accused of incapacity in the face of jihadist attacks. which have multiplied in Burkina Faso.
But these attacks have not ceased in eight months and a new putsch took place on September 30, bringing Captain Traoré to power, who notably invoked the deterioration of the security situation to justify this coup.
On Monday, at least ten soldiers were killed and around fifty injured in a “terrorist attack” in Djibo, a city under jihadist blockade for three months, in northern Burkina Faso.