Burkina Faso army strongman and new Prime Minister Isaac Zida was set Saturday to name his ministerial team, amid fears of continued military dominance despite a phased return to democratic rule. Lieutenant Colonel Zida, in charge of Burkina Faso since the ouster of veteran leader Blaise Compaore three weeks ago, formally handed power to interim civilian President Michel Kafando in a ceremony attended by six African heads of state Friday.
Zida has been named prime minister in Burkina's interim government, a move that will ensure the military retains a large say in running the country under Kafando, a 72-year-old former foreign minister and career diplomat. Zida is now expected to name army officials to the key positions of defence, finance and social affairs in his new 25-member government on Saturday, a diplomat said.
Decisions on the makeup of the cabinet had entered their final "fine tuning", an officer close to Zida said, adding that the results were expected to be announced later Saturday. Some civil society representatives have voiced concern over Zida's appointment, while some residents of Ouagadougou called it a betrayal of their "revolution". He will lead a 90-seat parliament, known as the National Transitional Council, during a year-long interim administration. Both Kafando and Zida are barred from standing in elections scheduled to be held in November next year under the transition deal.
But a diplomat, asking not to be named, said: "Make no mistake, it's (Zida) who will lead the country." Kafando vowed to punish those responsible for excesses during the 27-year-long rule of Compaore, who was very close to slain Libyan dictator Moamer Kadhafi and Liberian warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor, currently jailed for war crimes. "We will settle accounts with all those who have abused justice and who think they can siphon off public funds," Kafando said.
"The message of the people is clear and we have heard it," he said. "No more injustice, no more chaos, no more corruption." Six African heads of state were present for the handover. A seventh, Togo's President Faure Gnassingbe, was replaced at the last moment by his prime minister, as thousands of protesters - apparently inspired by the Burkina uprising - tried to march on his country's parliament.
Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama called it "a great day that marks the end of a period of political uncertainty". Zida, 49, was appointed premier by Kafando on Wednesday, a day after the former UN ambassador was sworn in as interim leader. Chosen following negotiations between political parties, the army and civil society, Kafando has emphasised his "humility" as a figure entrusted with "power that belongs to the people".
His ousted predecessor, meanwhile, flew into Morocco Friday on a visit from Ivory Coast where he fled after his long rule was ended on October 31 by a popular uprising against a constitutional change that could have enabled him to stay in power. Kafando has pledged he will not let his landlocked nation of 17 million people become a "banana republic", but observers have pointed to the powerful role the military is set to retain.
Then second-in-command of the presidential guard, Zida was installed by the military in the immediate aftermath of the uprising against Compaore. Under intense international pressure and the threat of sanctions if the military retained the post of head of state, an agreement was thrashed out to work towards elections in November 2015. Burkina Faso notably exports cotton and gold, but almost half the population lives on less than a dollar a day and many are subsistence farmers.
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