Burkina Faso coup leader, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo
Damiba was inaugurated as president on Wednesday, just over three
weeks after he led a coup to topple elected head of state Roch Marc
Christian Kabore.
Dressed in camouflage uniform and a red beret and wore a sash in the
colours of Burkina’s national flag, Damiba swore an oath before the
country’s top constitutional body to preserve, respect, uphold and defend
the Constitution, the nation’s laws and a “undamental act of key
decisions approved by the junta.
No foreign representatives, attended the ceremony in a small room at the
offices of the Constitutional Council.
On January 24, Damiba, 41, led disgruntled officers to force out Kabore
following public anger over his handling of a bloody jihadist insurgency.
Burkina Faso is one of the world’s poorest countries and one of the most
volatile in Africa.
The landlocked Sahel state has experienced repeated coups since gaining
independence from France in 1960.
