Life took quite a turn two weeks ago here in Burkina
Faso. On September 16th the President and Prime Minister of Burkina
Faso were seized by a group called the RSP (Presidential Guard) in an apparent
coup attempt. This event came out of nowhere and caught everyone off guard.
When I heard the news from my friends that same day, I
couldn’t believe the words coming from their mouths. Why was this happening?
The scheduled presidential elections were only a month away so this timing
couldn’t have been worse. I immediately pictured the worst for my fellow
volunteers and me: having to leave Burkina. Of course this train of thought
coming from the fact that we are government employees and the American
government takes extreme caution with its citizens abroad. So if there is a
political crisis and things get violent, the State Department would probably
make us evacuate.
However, my village life had not changed one bit in
Ramsa. I went along as normal to my garden and to drink with my neighbors. More
educated people had some clue as to what was going on and were upset, but most
villagers didn’t know what was happening or didn’t seem to care. My PC friends
and I thought that everything was going to blow over, but we didn’t know the
back story of the RSP and how dangerous they really were. The US Embassy and PC
Bureau did know this, which is why they decided to consolidate all volunteers to
one location on September 21st. This was a bigger shock to me than
hearing about the coup, because consolidation of volunteers is the final step
before evacuation. Some people packed their stuff thinking that they were never
returning to their village. Personally, that thought didn’t even cross my mind
and I told all my neighbors that I’d be back in a week. As we approach our two
week mark in Leo (our consolidation city), that clearly wasn’t true.
My 3 buddies and I went to the same bar where we had our first beer in country. We constantly show our friends the first picture to show how different and "clean" we were back then.
The Peace Corps decided to consolidate us in Leo because
the RSP is the most dangerous group in Burkina Faso and there was no telling
what they were going to do during their one week in power. Turns out the RSP
was in a fragile situation since the popular uprising last October. The RSP was
formed by former 27-year President Blaise Compaore during his administration.
They were essentially his personal 1,200 person security force, and to make
things worse each solider was highly trained and had access to the most
advanced weaponry. The RSP is rumored to have silenced some of Burkina’s
political dissenters in the past, with the leader Gen Gilbert Diendere
supposedly taking part in the Thomas Sankara assassination.
The RSP had one fatal flaw in their existence: their
allegiance to Blaise Compaore’s political party and not to the office of the
presidency. So, after Compaore was thrown out of office last October big
question that loomed was what to do with the RSP. The RSP claimed the
presidential seat for about 2 weeks last year until international pressure gave
way to a civilian led government led by Michel Kafando. The logical option
concerning the RSP would have been to dissolve it (because they no longer
served a purpose), but this wasn’t possible because no group had the ability or
the force to do so. So, over the past year the transition government has been
contemplating the options, whether to let the RSP continually exist (and
possible make a play at the presidential seat in the upcoming elections) or to
make an attempt to disband them. The transition government made a decision a
couple of months ago and ruled that after the planned October elections, the
RSP would have no legal authority and would be dissolved immediately. This also
meant that RSP members would be stripped of their luscious power and possibly persecuted
for their previous crimes.
This decision clearly infuriated the RSP and prompted
them to implement the stupidest and most desperate coup d’état ever. The day of
the coup, not all members of the RSP were on board with the coup and some didn’t
even know that it was going on. The coup lasted only a single week because the
RSP had no legitimate plan to maintain power and authority. Yes, they had
weapons and used fear to intimidate the masses, but they had no backing from
anyone. The international community, African Union, the Burkinabe Military and
the most importantly the general population were vehemently against the RSP and
were going to take strong measures to end their rule.
Once the interim President Michel Kafando was reinstated
1 week after the coup on September 23, it still took many days to determine the
fate of the RSP. Clearly the RSP had to be eliminated, but to give them full
justice while avoiding violence was the tricky part. This is why the
negotiations carried on for weeks. The international community was about to
grant some RSP members amnesty, but the general population revolted and would
not stand for it. The Burkinabe population has been the unsung hero during the
past two political crises because they would not relent until justice was
achieved. Usually corrupt officials can sneak away with things in weak African
countries, but here in Burkina the people “are ready to die until justice and
liberty is achieved” says one of my Burkinabe friends. This passionate
mentality is the key to change all of the negatives in Burkina Faso.
Eventually, the RSP was completely dissolved (with all
weapons) and their leader, Diendere, has been handed over to the authorities.
The presidential elections will hopefully be sometime in November and shortly
thereafter this country will have a democratically elected president.
As for all us Peace Corps volunteers, these past two
weeks have been mentally taxing. The teetering of thinking that we were going
back to the US or staying consolidated for even longer was difficult to say the
least. Thankfully our Peace Corps staff was awesome, all volunteers stayed relatively
positive and we got to stay at a luxurious hotel with a pool and air
conditioning. We organized events, trainings, games and even a community-wide
health fair because that’s just what Peace Corps volunteers do in their spare
time.
Swimming in the pool every single day has been my favorite part of this trip. We had a pool dodgeball tournament and my team (with the boys in the back) got 1st prize!
At our mini health fair we had a game to show the importance of sleeping under a mosquito net every day. We didn't publicize this event to the public, but within minutes of us arriving at this dirt lot, around 70-100 kids showed up and played games and learned with us.
I’m stoked to head back to site. The grant money for my
moringa garden project came in so my work organization and I can finally get
started! The rest of this year is going to fly with other projects, English
teaching and possibly some vacations to other West African countries.
Until next time,
MB
