Burkina Faso: Lt Col Damiba declared president by the Constitutional Council

Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who took power in a coup in Burkina Faso on January 24, has been declared “president” by the Constitutional Council, according to the AFP

In a decision notified to him on Wednesday, the Constitutional Council said that “Mr Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, lieutenant-colonel of the national armed forces, is the president of Faso” since 24 January.

in its session on February 8, 2022, the Council took note of the resignation of Roch Marc Christian Kaboré from his duties as President of Faso and officially noted the vacancy of this position as of January 24, 2022.

Mr Damiba, who is also “head of state” and “supreme chief of the army”, “will take the oath of office before the Constitutional Council”. It was however not specified on which day he will be sworn in as president, according to a judicial source who explained that it must be “fixed by mutual agreement” between the presidency and the Constitutional Council.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union have suspended Burkina Faso from their bodies, without further sanctions, asking the junta for a “reasonable” timetable for this “return to constitutional order”.

Lieutenant-Colonel Damiba has thus officially become the president of a transitional period until constitutional order is restored.

On Saturday, a decree by Mr Damiba announced the creation of a 15-member commission to “draw up a draft charter and agenda, together with a proposal for the duration of the transition and implementation modalities” within “two weeks”.