Burkina Faso’s military leader will stay in power for five more years after a new charter was signed following national consultations on Saturday, May 25. The talks in the capital, Ouagadougou, included civil society, security forces, and transitional lawmakers, but most political parties did not participate.
“The duration of the transition is fixed at 60 months from July 2, 2024,” said Col. Moussa Diallo, the chairman of the organizing committee of the national dialogue process, in a speech after the talks.
Burkina Faso is one of a growing list of West African countries where the military has taken power, accusing the elected governments of failing to keep their promises. The current junta seized power in September 2022 by ousting the military regime of Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba about eight months after it staged a coup to remove democratically elected President Roch Marc Kaboré.
The transitional government has been running Burkina Faso under a constitution approved by a national assembly that included army officers, civil society groups and traditional and religious leaders. The junta had set a goal of conducting elections to return the country to democratic rule by July 2024.