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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Burkina Faso president sez he's minister of defense, too |
| 2011-04-23 |
| [Iran Press TV] Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and may be in the process of being chased out now... President Blaise Compaore has declared himself the new defense minister days after protests and soldiers' mutiny led to violence in the West African country. "The president (of Burkina Faso), commander in chief of the army, has assumed the function of defense and veterans minister," AFP quoted a government decree read on state television on Thursday. Compaore has appointed a journalist, Luc Adolphe Tiao, as the country's new prime minister. Tiao has never had government experience. The new head of the armed forces general staff, General Honore Nabere Traore, has said the country has found "adequate responses" to the demands of mutineers and that "the crises are heading toward a solution." Chaos erupted in Burkina Faso last week when soldiers, including members of the presidential guard, mutinied over pay and bonuses. They fired shots in the air, looted shops and attacked people's cars. Disturbances spread later when tens of thousands of people marched in the capital Ouagadougou, protesting against high living costs. Outraged students attacked public places and set the headquarters of the ruling party on fire, reports said. Since then, the president has sacked his government, ordered bonus payments to soldiers and replaced his army chief, all in an effort to quell the unrest. Burkina Faso ranks 161 out of the 169 countries on the UN's Human Development Index which is a composite measure of quality of life. In Burkina Faso, where economy depends heavily on agriculture, especially cotton, about half of the 16 million population live on less than 1,000 CFA francs (1.52 Euros) a day. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Expect to see this kind of thing in more and more countries as the cost of running them goes up and the food supply goes down. Anytime you put the population on the teat, it's impossible to wean them off. |
| Posted by: newc 2011-04-23 09:30 |