The Return of Michel Kafando

Last October, President Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso was overthrown in an uprising. The people of Burkina Faso were displeased that Compaoré had plans of staying in office after 27 years. The overthrowing of Compaoré resulted in Michel Kafando serving as the interim.

Prior to Compaoré’s overthrow, supporters of his regime created the Presidential Security Regiment, headed by General Diendéré. Ever since the ousting of Compaoré, political unrest headed over much of Burkina Faso. Eventually, members of the PSR attempted a coup on the interim, Michel Kafando; forcing him to seek help and protection in France. Last week, Kafando was finally reinstated as president and slowly things are getting back to normal.

Supposedly, the reason for the coup against Michel Kafando was because earlier, Kafando claimed that two prominent politicians, Achille Tapsoba and Eddie Komboïgo, would not be allowed to participate in the new elections because they are supporters of Blaise Compaoré.

Similar, but on a much lesser scale, this relates to the class discussion relating to the fact that you can not always trust other states; but in this case it is about not being able to trust others within one’s own state. Furthermore, we discussed how usually states want to be the hegemon, or the strongest nation. This can be related back to the situation in Burkina Faso because although it does not discuss states fighting for the top power, it is about political groups fighting for power.