What exactly is happening in Ouagadougou? The Burkinabè press itself seems to be expectant. “Confused situation in Ouagadougou this September 30, 2022”, title like this Faso.
Sera time, as for him, title: “Burkina: gunshots heard towards the camp [militaire général] Baba Sy, the RTB signal [Radiodiffustion-Télévision du Burkina] coupé”.
All the country’s media agree that shots were heard in the Burkinabè capital. “Very early this Friday, September 30, the Burkinabè people of Ouagadougou were awakened by shots which were allegedly fired from the Baba Sy camp, located near the Ouaga 2000 district”, where is Kosyam Palace located, official residence of the President of Burkina Faso, thus indicates Africa News.
According to the Pan-African media, citing several sources, “Emotional soldiers fired into the barracks of Ouagadougou and other towns. They’re blocking arteries in the capital. The RTB has ceased broadcasting. The situation is confused on the spot.”
On his side, Sera time specifies that the shots were heard towards the Baba Sy camp, which is also the headquarters of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguarding and Restoration (MPSR). In other words, the district of the transitional military junta proclaimed in Burkina Faso after the coup d’état of January 24, 2022, which brought to power Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba, president of this transition. The latter, according to the Burkinabè media, is currently “in safe place”.
A disgruntled army?
Faso noted For its part that, according to “sources” not mentioned, it could be an action of “disgruntled soldiers”. The Burkinabè site hypothesizes that this discontent finds its source in “tensions within the army” : “Some relatives of Lieutenant-Colonel Emmanuel Zoungrana do not hide their anger at his detention for several months for attempted coup and embezzlement.” The latter had been arrested on January 10, 2022, suspected with eight other soldiers of having prepared a coup attempt.
Another reason for anger, certain units of the gendarmerie “consider themselves ill-equipped to deal with terrorist attacks accordingly”.
The Burkinabè site specifies that “talks [sont] in progress to calm them down”, also stating that “gendarmes and soldiers would be on the job”.
These movements come four days after the attack on a supply convoy near Gaskindé, in the north of the country, and whose provisional toll reports about fifteen dead and numerous material damages. These latest attacks are also said to have rekindled the anger of the Burkinabè army.
As a reminder, neighboring Mali had known in May 2021 “a coup within a coup”. On that date, the Malian president of the transition, Bah N’Daw, as well as his Prime Minister, Moctar Ouane, had been arrested by elements of the Malian armed forces.