ACCRA - The West African bloc ECOWAS will meet virtually on Friday to discuss the crisis in Burkina Faso, where army officers have deposed President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, the group said.
The 15 member Economic Community of West African States, which includes Burkina Faso, had already condemned Monday’s coup, which came amid deepening anger about Kabore’s response to violence by armed groups.
The extraordinary summit on Burkina will start at 10:00 GMT on Friday and be held virtually, ECOWAS said in a note on Wednesday. … West Africa has been rattled by three military coups in less than 19 months, beginning with Mali in 2020 and Guinea in September 2021.
In August 2020, army officers deposed Mali’s elected president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who had likewise been facing protests for his handling of the country’s violence. ECOWAS has already slapped broad sanctions on Mali, where the military-led government said this month it planned to hold power through 2025, going back on a previous agreement to organise elections this February.
Guinea underwent a coup in September last year, when officers toppled President Alpha Conde, 83, who had been president since 2010. … Both Guinea and Mali have been suspended from ECOWAS, and the bloc has imposed an array of sanctions against those countries.
