A coup plot against the government of Burkina Faso has been foiled by the country’s security forces. According to a government statement issued on April 21, the masterminds were located in the neighboring Côte d’Ivoire.
“The meticulous work of the intelligence service revealed a major plot being prepared against our country, the ultimate aim of which is to sow total chaos,” Security Minister Mahamadou Sana said in a statement, according to Radio France Internationale. “The plotters planned to assault the presidency of Burkina Faso on April 16,” Sana added.
Already last week a dozen military personnel, including two officers, were arrested after being accused by the junta of planning to “destabilize” the government, security sources told French news agency AFP on April 21.
The confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), comprising Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, have been making significant economic and diplomatic gains. Over the last weeks the confederation held a meeting of foreign ministers in Russia and has established a new development bank.
The announcement of the coup plot occurred after the official visit of a delegation led by Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, a former President of Tanzania, and now the special envoy of that country’s current President Samia Suluhu.
The delegation arrived on April 16, and on April 17 held meetings with Burkina Faso’s interim President Capt. Ibrahim Traoré, who was presented with a special message by the Tanzanian President who called for establishing good bilateral economic and political relations.
Speaking at a press conference after the meeting with Traoré, Kikwete emphasized the importance of African nations strengthening their social and economic cooperation as a vital path toward the continent’s self-reliance—especially during this period when aid from Western countries has significantly decreased, reports Tanzania’s Daily News.
On April 15 Kikwete was in fellow AES country Niger, where he met with President of Niger Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani, and delivered a message of warm greetings from the Tanzanian President, and also discussed further bilateral relations.
Tanzania is a leading East African country whose ruling party shares many of the Pan African views of the AES leaders. Like the AES it cooperates closely with China and Russia to implement its own infrastructure-driven economic development policies.
