# World

ECOWAS-UN joint mission visits Burkina Faso

“It’s about seeing how we can work with Burkina Faso so that the country can get out of this situation,” said Botchwey.

IANS | Ouagadougou | February 1, 2022 1:37 pm

ECOWAS-UN joint mission visits Burkina Faso

A joint mission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the UN met leaders of Burkina Faso’s military following a coup in the country late last month.

“The heads of state have requested that the mission come and exchange with the authorities here to examine the situation and see what the future holds for Burkina Faso,” Xinhua news agency quoted Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the Foreign Minister of Ghana who leads the ECOWAS delegation, as saying.

During the visit, the joint delegation held discussions with Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, chief of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR) that took power in the Western Afican country.

“It’s about seeing how we can work with Burkina Faso so that the country can get out of this situation,” said Botchwey.

The members of the joint mission also visited President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, who’s in good health, according to Botchwey.

The delegation will submit its report to an ECOWAS summit scheduled for Thursday in Accra.

On January 23, the military of Burkina Faso announced on national television that they had seized power and put an end to the functions of President Kabore and the MPSR led by Damiba took over from the civilian government.

# World

Around 100 killed during massacre in Burkina Faso

"Nearly a hundred civilians, including women and children, are reported to have been killed in a massacre in the village of Zaongo, in the north-central region of Burkina Faso," the EU External Action (EEAS) said in a statement, CNN reported.

# Opinion

The colonialist and the revolutionary

Francophone West Africa has for several years been beset by an Islamist insurgency that nations such as Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have failed to repel, despite international assistance.

# Opinion

Soldier returns

Some in Burkina Faso want Russian forces to replace the French ~ as they have in Mali. Demands for a more effective security strategy had built up through last year, and President Kaboré overhauled first his government and then the military command in a bid to regain the political momentum and restore some stability to the battered northern and eastern provinces.