West African bloc calls on Burkinabe to support country’s transition
KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – Guinea-Bissau’s president and chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Sunday called on the Burkinabe to support the country’s transition government.
Umaro Sissoco Embalo made the call after meeting with Burkina Faso leaders, including transition President Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, in the capital Ouagadougou.
Embalo said he had “very good discussions” with the Burkinabe authorities on the progress of the commitments made after the ECOWAS leaders reached a consensus on 24 months of transition effective from July 1.
ECOWAS leaders at a summit in Ghana earlier this month insisted on a 24-month transition period from July 1 instead of the 36-month initially proposed by the junta.
The ECOWAS delegation which arrived in the country early Sunday included the bloc’s mediator for Burkina Faso Mahamadou Issoufou and President of the ECOWAS Commission Omar Alieu Touray.
They are expected to meet with members of the government, deputies, religious leaders, and members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the country, according to the presidency.
Damiba, the head of the junta that ousted President Roch Kabore in late January, has called on Burkinabe to “put national interests above their partisan interests” to build the country.
Like Mali and Guinea, ECOWAS suspended Burkina Faso from its governing bodies after the military overthrew President Kabore.
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