Burkina Faso military junta dissolves government

The military junta in Burkina Faso dismissed Prime Minister Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela on Friday and dissolved the government.

“The prime minister’s official functions are terminated,” read a decree issued by the junta’s leader, interim President Ibrahim Traore.

He said government ministers will remain in office until a new government is formed.

No reasons were given for the dismissal. Tambela was named as premier in October 2022 after the coup that brought Traore to power. The prime minister had served at the head of three successive governments, surviving each reshuffle.

Military rule in Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is one of several countries in the Sahel region of West Africa where the military has recently taken power. The military took advantage of popular discontent with previous democratically-elected governments over security issues.

The current junta seized power in September 2022 with the overthrow of the military government of Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, about eight months after it staged a coup to remove democratically-elected President Roch Marc Kabore.

But since its inception, the junta has struggled to end Burkina Faso’s security challenges, as about half of the country’s territory remains outside government control. In May, it extended the military rule for another five years.

Like coup-hit Niger and Mali, Burkina Faso has severed ties with longtime Western and regional partners, including former colonial ruler France and ECOWAS, which it left earlier this year.

dh/zc (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)