The "Spatula" Revolution of Burkina Faso

The people of Burkina Faso have spoken with their voices and the former President, Blaise Compoare has listened to the voice of reason. He has finally handed in his resignation and the country's Armed Forces have taken charge of the reins of power.

It all started some few days ago as thousands of Burkinabe men and women marched in protest against the decision of the president to table a motion in the country's parliament. He wanted to amend the constitution so that he will stay in power for another five years. The men and women waved spatulas as they protested against Blaise Compoare's 27 year rule. The Parliament building was set ablaze and some shops in the capital Ouagadougou were also vandalized and looted and some of them set ablaze. The security forces responded by firing tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the protesters and in the process two of the protesters have been confirmed dead and scores injured. It seems the dead and injured Burkinabes have really paid the ultimate price.

So after ruling Burkina Faso for 27 years, what has the former president achieved for his country? What was his role in the death of his former friend and Head of State, Thomas Sankara? Since Blaise Compoare was a staunch ally of the US and France, what did these two governments do to make sure he was stopped in his tracks in his attempt to amend the country's constitution for him to prolong his stay in power? Why do some African leaders decide to stay in power for a long time?

I presume by now the transitional government that has been put in place will start looking for the former president's assets that he has accumulated so far during his 27 year  rule. Why did the UN, ECOWAS, AU allow him to continue to stay in power for all this while and not prevailing on him to step down. What is it with power that some leaders find it difficult to step down when their time is up?

Right now the people of Burkina Faso have spoken and long live the Spatula Revolution. I can imagine Thomas Sankara's ghost hovering around in the Burkinabe capital. I hope the transitional government will do what is expected of them and usher the country into a proper democratic dispensation.

Muammar Gaddafi's Ghost In Mali?

The West African country of Mali just had a coup d' tat, and their democratically elected president was overthrown. This unfortunate incident was undertaken by the army. One of the reasons they gave for their action was that, the government was not handling the Tuareg insurrection in the northern part of the country very well. Most of the northern towns have been taken over by the Tuareg rebells and the soldiers were being killed and disgraced by the well equiped  Tuareg rebells. Just ask yourself, where did these rebells get the weapons and how come their numbers have swelled all of a sudden. The condemnation of the coup have come from all angles, first from the regional bloc, ECOWAS, the AU, UN and other countries who tout themselves as adhering to the tenets of democracy. The ECOWAS bloc is even thinking of sending troops into Mali to reinstate the democratic government which was overthrown. I see some hypocrisy at play here. Have the world forgotten that Gaddafi's murder is now having a disastrous effect on the African continent. Most of the remnants of Gaddafi's forces have now joined the Tuareg insurrection in the northern part of Mali and they are well armed with sophisticated weapons. We are being told that the former Libyan leader had about 10,000 elite troops who would have staged a last stand in the Libyan desert to restore their leader back to power, but only God knows why that did not happen. Why did the AU sit down and close their eyes for NATO to interfere in the Libyan conflict under the guise of protecting civilians?  Now the coup leaders in Mali have got the support of the masses in the country, and no amount of threats and sanctions imposed on them would coerce them to restore the former government. One would have the impression that, i support this coup in Mali, but i would be the last person on this earth to do so. Before a decision is taken against the junta by all those condemning their action, a critical look and assessment must be done to find out the remote and immediate causes of the overthrow of the democratic government in Mali. Muammar Gaddafi's ghost would continue to haunt the African continent for not standing by him at the time he needed his brothers most. But, hey, ghosts do exist, go to Mali and you will find Gaddafi's ghost there.