President Michel Kafando: back in office

Burkina Faso’s interim president, Michel Kafando is back in power, his office announced today, ahead of the visit of six West African leaders, including Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari.

An emergency summit of the regional bloc ECOWAS in Nigeria on Tuesday sent the presidents of Senegal, Togo, Benin, Ghana, Niger and Nigeria  on the mission to Ouagadougou,  Burkina Faso capital today to ensure that President Michel Kafando is reinstalled.

And it appears the crisis in the country  has been resolved ahead of the visit, with the African leaders not needing to sweat over negotiating with  General Gilbert Diendere, who led the presidential guard  to topple Kafando and the transition team last week.

Prospect of a bloodbath between troops loyal to the government of the country and Diendere’s forces has also ended with an agreement between Diendere  and  the regular troops, who had promised to march into the capital.

Reports said the agreement was signed overnight,  with the help of  a respected traditional ruler.

Under the terms of the accord, the presidential guard agreed to leave Ouagadougou’s streets and return to barracks while loyalists will withdraw 50 km (31 miles) outside of the capital, said the Mogho Naaba, the head of the ethnic Mossi community.

“They want to avoid clashes between soldiers … They are the ones who must protect the people and their belongings. I ask everyone to forgive,” he said.

The presidential guard, which stormed a cabinet meeting a week ago and took the president and other government members hostage, will be confined to Camp Naba Koom II, their base in the capital. They must carry out an inventory of their arsenal within 72 hours.