The Economic community of West African States (ECOWAS) has suspended Burkina Faso following a military coup, making it the third member nation to be punished for a military takeover in only 18 months.
The West Africa’s main regional bloc stated this on Friday, January 28, days after mutinous soldiers forced democratically elected President Roch Marc Christian Kabore to resign.
The soldiers also went on state television to announce a military takeover of the country, which they said was under siege from armed groups.
Heads of ECOWAS member states will reconvene for another summit in Ghana’s capital Accra on Feb. 3 to discuss the findings of the two delegations sent to the country.
ECOWAS and its international allies have condemned the coup in Burkina Faso, which they fear could further destabilise a country beset by Islamist violence, but find themselves with limited leverage.
The West African leaders met virtually yesterday to discuss the Burkina Faso coup, and a delegation was expected to travel to the Burkinabe capital, Ouagadougou, in the coming days.
Ghanaian president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the current ECOWAS chairman, described the recent spate of coups in West Africa as “a direct violation of our democratic tenets. “The rest of the world is looking up to us to be firm on this matter,” he said.
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