Ouagadougou – The Economic Community of West African States has shipped 10 000 tonnes of food aid to Burkina Faso, said the government, which has been suspended from the regional group following a coup.
The 15-nation ECOWAS “has assisted us and continues to do so, notably on the humanitarian level, by sending 10 000 tonnes of food”, said Foreign Minister Olivia Rouamba on Thursday.
“ECOWAS heads of state are supporting Burkina Faso and not in a posture for sanctions” because they are “concerned about the future of our country”, she said.
Burkina was not “in a position of defiance against ECOWAS”, she added.
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The ruling junta in Ouagadougou was suspended from ECOWAS after seizing power in January led by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
Burkina Faso on Monday pushed back against ECOWAS demands to reduce its declared plans for a three-year timetable for a return to civilian rule.
ECOWAS on Wednesday announced a delegation would visit Burkina before a summit of leaders is held.
“This mission may evaluate the security situation, the impossibility of holding elections in a short time because of the lack of security, and allow ECOWAS to better appreciate the three-year period agreed upon by the active forces and which is after all reasonable,” a diplomatic source told AFP.
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Rouamba said Burkina was a “special case” suffering “very exacerbated” security, humanitarian and food crises.
Damiba overthrew president Roch Marc Christian Kabore accusing him of failing to deal with jihadist violence and made security the junta’s priority.
One of the world’s poorest countries, the landlocked Sahel state has been battered by an insurgency that swept in from neighbouring Mali in 2015.
More than 2,000 people have died and 1.8 million have been displaced.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Twitter/@ecowas_cedeao
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