ECOWAS mediator reaffirms commitment to Burkina Faso in wake of coup

The ECOWAS mediator for Burkina Faso has ended his visit to the country in the wake of last week’s coup, the second in eight months, whose main objectives were to establish relations with the new junta leader and to reinforce a two-year transition period for the country to return to democracy set up under the previous junta.
Speaking to the press after the meeting with Burkina Faso’s new strongman, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, the ECOWAS mediator, Mahamadou Issoufou, reaffirmed his commitment to the Burkinabe people. “We will report on our mission to the current president of ECOWAS and to the heads of state. But I can already assure you that … we will continue to accompany the Burkinabe people in this very difficult ordeal they are going through,“ Issoufou said. During the meeting, the new leader of Burkina Faso promised to keep the commitments made in July by the previous leadership regarding the organization of elections and a return of civilians to power by July 2024 at the latest.
As the delegation from the West African political bloc ECOWAS arrived in Burkina Faso’s capital city Ouagadougou on Tuesday (4 October), protesters took to the streets outside the airport, shouting anti-ECOWAS and anti-French slogans and insisting it was time for the country to manage its own return to security. Burkina Faso has been locked in a conflict with militant groups linked to Islamic State and al-Qaida for almost seven years, experiencing its second coup in eight months this weekend. Burkina Faso is seen as a strategic lynchpin in the western Sahel conflict, with terrorism already spreading from its southern border to West Africa’s coastal states. ECOWAS has a major stake in Burkina Faso’s success in security matters.