Burkina Faso’s coup leader Paul-Henri Damiba has promised to deal with the mounting insecurity after being inaugurated as the country’s new president.
His inauguration ceremony, broadcast on TV but with no foreign representatives present, was held in a small room at the offices of the Constitutional Council.
The 41-year-old lieutenant colonel opened his speech with a minute’s silence for those killed in the fight against Islamist militants over the last six years.
“To… gain the upper hand over the enemy, it will be necessary… to rise up and convince ourselves that as a nation we have more than what it takes to win this war,” the Reuters news agency quotes him as saying.
The man who ousted elected head of state Roch Kaboré because of his handling of the jihadist insurgency promised to reorganise the security forces to strengthen links between intelligence and field operations and to fight corruption.
In a nod to Ecowas, the regional body that suspended the country following the coup three years ago, AFP quoted him as saying: “Burkina Faso reiterates its readiness to work in full sovereignty with all partners in mutual respect.”
