Coup in Burkina

Life took quite a turn two weeks ago here in Burkina Faso. On September 16^th 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 21^st. 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