Burkina Faso Archives - The African Mirror

Nov

11

2023

Burkina Faso junta’s conscription of critics rattles civil society and unions

NEWS

BURKINA Faso's military junta is abusing an emergency law to conscript perceived dissidents and critics to join a deadly fight against militants linked to Al Qaeda and Islamic State, warned lawyers, journalists and watchdog Human Rights Watch this week. In a series of statements, civil society groups and unions for journalists and lawyers accused the junta of seeking to silence peaceful dissent as it struggled to contain the security crisis as promised when it seized power in a September 2022 coup. "We see that it (the junta) is revealing its true face and that it has not necessarily come to…

Oct

21

2023

By The African Mirror

Dengue fever kills hundreds in Burkina Faso as cases spike

HEALTH

BURKINA Faso's health ministry has declared a dengue fever epidemic amid the deadliest outbreak in years in which more than 200 people have died and new cases are rising sharply. There have been 50,478 suspected cases and 214 deaths of the mosquito-borne illness this year, the ministry said in a statement, mostly in the urban centres of the capital Ouagadougou and Bobo Dioulasso. About 20% of the cases and deaths were recorded last week alone, it said. Dengue kills an estimated 20,000 people worldwide each year. Rates of the disease have risen eight-fold since 2000, driven largely by climate change,…

Oct

16

2023

By The African Mirror

Burkina Faso and Russia’s Rosatom sign agreement for nuclear power plant

NEWS

BURKINA Faso and Russian state nuclear company Rosatom signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the construction of a nuclear power plant in the landlocked Sahel West African state, Burkina Faso's energy ministry said in a statement. The nuclear power plant will enable the country to meet its energy needs, adding that the agreement was signed by energy and mines minister Simon-Pierre Boussim, and Nikolay Spasskiy, Rosatom's deputy director general. The deal follows a request made by Burkina Faso junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traore to Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg in July. Traore, who seized power…

Oct

06

2023

By LAYLI FOROUDI

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger students in French visa limbo as relations sour

NEWS

BURKINA Faso medical student Alphonse Nikiema lit up as he read an email from his university allowing him to resume visa paperwork for training at a French hospital next year - a move that has been in limbo since France suspended consular services in his country. Hundreds of students, researchers and artists with upcoming professional trips to France that can take months of planning have been uncertain about getting their visas due to deteriorating relations with France following coups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger over the past three years. The juntas that seized power have turned against former colonial…

Oct

04

2023

By The African Mirror

In Burkina Faso, a million children out of school due to insecurity– UNICEF

NEWS

MORE than one million children and 31,000 teachers have been unable to return to their classrooms in Burkina Faso due to violence and insecurity as the West African nation starts another academic year, UNICEF said. About 6,100 schools, or at least one out of four, were shut down on the first day of the school year, UNICEF said. The junta that seized power in a military coup last year has struggled to improve security in the country. Indeed, data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), a U.S.-based crisis-monitoring group, shows that violence nationwide has only increased since the…

Oct

01

2023

By The African Mirror

Burkina junta leader: Security first before promised elections

NEWS

THE leader of Burkina Faso's military junta said promised elections would only be held once the security situation permits, as hundreds of his supporters rallied in the capital on the first anniversary of the coup. Supporters gathered at the Place de la Nation in Ouagadougou waving Burkinabe flags. Some held signs with pictures of the young interim president, Captain Ibrahim Traore. Traore grabbed power on September 30 last year, ousting the leader of another coup who had overthrown president Roch Kabore eight months earlier amid a worsening security crisis fuelled by armed groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.…

May

19

2023

By The African Mirror

Teen mothers and depression: lack of support from partners and violence are big drivers in Malawi and Burkina Faso

HEALTH

UP to one in four African girls have their first child before the age of 18. Becoming a mother at such a young age can lead to mental health problems like depression. Research suggests that pregnant and parenting teenagers have poorer mental health than adult mothers. Authors ANTHONY IDOWU AJAYI, Associate research scientist, African Population and Health Research Center ELITA CHAMDIMBA, Research fellow, Centre for Social Research, University of Malawi Several factors make teenage mothers vulnerable to mental illness. For example, in conservative societies pregnant, unmarried adolescent girls are shamed and excluded. Parenting is stressful. Early and unintended pregnancy can…

Apr

03

2023

By The African Mirror

Burkina Faso expels two French journalists

NEWS

BURKINA Faso has expelled two French journalists working for newspapers Le Monde and Liberation, the two publications said on Sunday, accusing the authorities of seeking to stifle freedom of speech with an escalating crackdown on foreign media. Liberation said its correspondent Agnes Faivre and Le Monde's Sophie Douce arrived in Paris early on Sunday after they were summoned separately for questioning by the military authorities on Friday and later notified of their expulsion. The two are "journalists of perfect integrity, who worked in Burkina Faso legally, with valid visas and accreditations ... We strongly protest against these absolutely unjustified expulsions,"…

Mar

30

2023

By The African Mirror

Holders Senegal through to Cup of Nations finals

FOOTBALL

MARK GLEESON DEFENDING champions Senegal, Burkina Faso, South Africa and Tunisia added their names to the list of qualified teams for next year’s African Cup of Nations finals after away successes in Tuesday’s qualifiers. Senegal, who won the tournament in Cameroon some 14 months ago, beat Mozambique 1-0 away to keep up their 100% record and secure the top spot in Group L while a point away from Burkina Faso at Togo in a 1-1 draw was enough for them to progress from Group B. South Africa scrambled a 2-1 away win over Liberia to join Morocco, who qualified without…

Mar

28

2023

By The African Mirror

Burkina Faso suspends France 24 broadcasts in the country after al Qaeda interview

NEWS

BURKINA Faso's military government suspended France 24 broadcasts in the country after the TV station reported on an interview with the head of al Qaeda's North African wing AQIM. Relations between Paris and Ouagadougou have deteriorated sharply since Burkina Faso's military seized power in a coup last October. In January, Burkina Faso gave France one month to withdraw its troops as it ended a military accord that allowed French troops to fight insurgents, including on its territory. During a studio discussion, France 24 earlier this month aired a 20-second audio clip of an interview with Yezid Mebarek, also known as…