Published on : 08/07/2022 – 22:43
It was to be a historic moment. Friday, July 8, the president of the Burkinabè transition, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, invited five former Burkinabè heads of state to the presidential palace of Kossyam. The objective of this meeting: to launch national reconciliation to confront terrorism. For the occasion, President Damiba even allowed the return of Blaise Compaoré. But only two former presidents showed up.
It was in the presence of a Blaise Compaoré, physically diminished and who could hardly stand up, that Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Henri Damiba explained that this consultation was aimed at finding solutions for a lasting peace. ” The process is not made to consecrate impunity, but to contribute to the search for solutions for a Burkina Faso of peace and cohesion. The urgency of preserving the existence of our homeland calls for a synergy of action. »
Three former heads of state did not take part in the consultation for various reasons, underlines our correspondent in Ouagadougou, Yaya Boudani. Among them, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, whose home was stormed early in the morning by his supporters to prevent him from participating. ” Not long ago, there was the judgment in the Thomas Sankara case where former President Blaise Compaoré was sentenced. From this point of view, the controversy swelled on respect for the Constitution, the separation of powers, the need for convictions to be followed by executions…. As a former Head of State, I am concerned about the situation of the country and I am committed to making my contribution. »
Other absentees: Michel Kafando, declared unwell, and Yacouba Isaac Zida. According to a relative, he did not wish to take part in a meeting which he considered too hasty. In the end, more than half of the heads of state invited by President Damiba did not come. ” All that for this sums up an active member of civil society. “ It’s not a reconciliation, but a masquerade said Boukari Conombo, president of Le Brassard Noir, a civil society movement.
« The urgency of preserving our homeland does not allow us the luxury of wasting any time in controversy. “, declared President Damiba, at the end of the meeting. The latter stressed that arrangements have already been made to continue individual consultations with those absent from the meeting.
In a press release, the Burkinabè Movement for Human and Peoples’ Rights believes that this meeting above all revealed the real roadmap of the ruling junta: “ The restoration of the caciques of the deposed regime of Blaise Compaoré and the absolution of all their crimes under the pretext of national reconciliation. »