The young leader of the military coup in Burkina Faso has announced October 14, 2022, as the day to adopt a transitional charter and designate a new leader for the country.
On October 2, 34-year-old Captain Ibrahim Traore declared that it was not his intention to lead Burkina Faso but a change needed to occur to ensure a more transparent transition back to civilian rule.
“The place of a soldier is in the barracks and not in the Presidential Palace,” Traore is reported to have said.
It appears the young soldier plans to keep his word and return to the barracks after shepherding through a transitional charter to usher in a new designated leader to manage the process of returning the country to civilian rule.
While Capt. Traore’s gesture appears to be noble, critics hope it is not a repeat of what transpired in the country’s southern neighbor 43 years ago when another young soldier took the reins of power in Ghana, handed over power to a civilian administration a few months later only to return two years later in another coup d’etat to remove the civilian administration he handed over power to.
“The similarities are striking,” observed Dudu Monamu, a store owner in Ouagadougou. Young soldiers who successfully carry out a military overthrow tend to feel a sense of power to play king maker, and it is hoped that Captain Ibrahim Traore would not follow that path.
DNT News with correspondence reports from Julius Ouya.
