AU Suspends Burkina Faso
The African Union has communicated the suspension of Burkina Faso in reaction to the coup on January 24 that overthrew President Roch Marc Christian Kabore.
Monday’s suspension comes a week after a faction of the army announced the removal of President Roch Kabore, as envoys from West Africa and the United Nations head for talks with the coup leaders.
The AU’s 15-member Peace and Security Council stated this on Twitter. They noted that it had voted “to suspend the participation of #BurkinaFaso in all AU activities until the effective restoration of constitutional order in the country”.
AFP had reported that the Commission’s chair Moussa Faki Mahamat, had already criticized the coup when it happened and before it was clear who was taking charge.
Burkina Faso was suspended on Friday by the West African bloc ECOWAS and sent a delegation to meet with the ruling junta Saturday.
The coup is the latest session of violence to attack Burkina Faso, a landlocked state attacked with persistent instability since it gained independence from France in 1960.
Since 2015, a jihadist insurgency spread over Mali’s border has killed more than 2,000 persons and forced 1.5 million to flee their homes.
In the past 18 months, AU has also suspended Mali and Guinea following its coups.
AFP further reported that Sudan was also suspended following a coup in October. Diplomats have said the spate of coups is expected to be a major point of discussion at the AU’s summit in Addis Ababa at the weekend.
