Did France play a role in the overthrow of President Roche Gabor?

Published: 25/01/2022 – 16:15

This Tuesday, January 25, Burkina Faso rose with a military government under its leadership The constitutional suspension from the National Television Studio and the dissolution of the government and the National Assembly. President Roche Gabore has tendered his resignation A handwritten letter Posted on the RTB Facebook page Monday evening.

The country is now headed by a lieutenant colonel Paul-Henry Santago TamibaLeader of the Patriotic Movement for Defense and Reconstruction (MPSR), an officer trained in France, at the Military School in Paris.

At the age of 41, he re-established military rule in a country that had suffered eight conspiracies since independence in 1960. Roche Mark Christian Gabore (2015-2022) was the first democratically elected citizen to be president.

The country’s first civilian since 1966 was ousted by the president’s army

An economist and former prime minister (he managed the historic devaluation of the CFA franc in 1994), he held his presidency.Attack of jihadists In 2012 in Sahel, part of northern Mali, his army failed to control it.

To many observers, this new coup in Burkina Faso is not really surprising, as the divorce between the former head of state and the armed forces became apparent from the attack on Inata’s Gendermari post in November 2021, in which 54 genders perished after failing to seek reinforcements and food from their staff.

Disagreements between Paris and Roche Cabore

With distrust of his army, he suspects he wants to overthrow him and regain power, the ousted president also appeared to be wary of Barclays military action and denied a significant French military presence in the Burkina Faso region.

To Antoine Glaser, founder and former editor-in-chief of “La Letre du Continent”, a well-known publication on the political life of the African continent, “Roche Cabore had a certain distance against France, which he despised, because he did not want to reform his army. Saber acknowledged the existence of the “normal force” that African youth view as a setback for the Franco-African years.

Did Elysee want to oust Roche Kapoor?

Was Roche Cabore rejected by French authorities after being rejected by his army? According to African intelligenceIn a statement issued on Tuesday, he said Sunday that “since September, officials as French diplomats have been working in military-occupied situations” and that the special platform had granted the former president an “emergency evacuation” on Sunday. Before losing contact with him on Monday afternoon.

“Several drop-off points in neighboring countries were explored to give asylum to the president, but the latter refused to be evicted by Paris.” This information was denied by Elysee shortly after the note was published, again according to a site that specializes in current events and issues on the African continent, which also claims to be the cultivator of “Africa” ​​from the Kwai d’Orsay. Christophe Picot traveled to Ouagadougou in early December, where he met with Cabore, who was accompanied by the French ambassador to the country, Luc Hallett, and security and senior officers of the Burkina Faso military. Although the threat is still there, it is considered very serious that it has partially dissipated. “

The old rapprochement between the Burkina Faso forces and France

The coup, which ended on Monday, was almost announced for Antoine Glaser, as President Cabore “arrested officials fifteen days ago who were close to Paul-Henry Santoko Tamiba”. The journalist says he did not think “Paris is” in the antenna of France 24[it] Former President Blaise Compore, Burkina Faso’s military leader from 1987 to 2014, overthrew President Copore, despite the fact that he was expelled to Cote d’Ivoire by French special forces.

“It is also true that there has always been French support for Gilbert Deander [un général responsable d’une tentative de putsch en 2015 NDLR]. It is true that DGSE and French services have long benefited from covert operations in the region through the Ouagadougou site, but that does not mean that France does not support Roch Kaboré, “explains Antoine Glaser.

The journalist also recalled that in September 2020, Emmanuel Macron expressed his doubts about Roche Kapoor’s ability to respond to the security challenge posed by the jihadi insurgency in Sahel.

Roche Gabore’s distrust of his army is a problem for Paris

In his book “The African Trap of Macron”, published in 2021, he quotes the French head of state as saying: “Burkina Faso has a problem with the military. Burkina Faso is a coup d’tat. I do not want to, so this is a self – sustaining model because he has distrust of his own army and he will need foreign powers for a long time. “

This Tuesday, the French president declared: “Clearly, as always, we have joined the regional organization ECOWAS in condemning this military coup.” Asked by RFIHe adds that we should not underestimate the fatigue and exhaustion created by the constant attacks of terrorist groups that weaken the armed forces.

Beyond the French criticisms of the former president’s security strategy, Burkina Faso seems to have recognized the regime that allowed the military to return to power. As daily tips Release “The inability of the power to slow the inevitable progress of terrorism has provoked an air of pessimistic anger.” Protests in support of the regime continue in Ouagadougou on Tuesday.

“Of course this is a conspiracy, but in the Sahelo-Sahara region, leaders are entering bunkers in their capitals, leaving the countryside to jihadists and we have the feeling that they have renounced all the sovereignty of their education. Or health. Over time, that is likely to continue, “said Antoine Glaser.