HOW do you know a coup has just taken place? Simple enough, said one tweet doing the rounds soon after a military takeover in Burkina Faso last month: “You know it’s a coup when you wake up and this guy is presenting the morning news”, it said, showing a picture of a military man on television.
The coup, launched on September 17th, lasted only a week before Burkina Faso’s Presidential Security Regiment (RSP) was forced to step aside on September 24th. But the tweet captured the frustration of many over the army’s reluctance to stay out of politics in a country that is among Africa’s most coup-prone. And for some of the army officers involved, this failed putsch was but one of many that they had participated in. Gilbert Diendere, the general accused of being behind the coup, is said to have played a role in two previous military takeovers including one in 1987 that started the 27-year rule of Blaise Compaoré.
That the coup was so short-lived suggests that power in Burkina Faso is steadily shifting away...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/1LXqmfa
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