Det karrige vestafrikanske Sahelland, der har modtaget så megen dansk bistand, er aldrig faldet helt til ro efter store protester for et år siden. Reformer indført, men alt hænger på Compaoré.
OUAGADOUGOU, 12 March 2012 (IRIN): One year on from the start of several months of popular revolts in Burkina Faso, the situation has settled down, but the calm is fragile, say observers.
The government has adopted several measures to appease its critics, including upping civil servant salaries, intensifying the fight against corruption, and subsidizing food prices, but high prices continue to pose huge problems for the poor.
One in four youths are unemployed, and it is widely believed that the government is out of touch with the priorities of its citizens.
Protests began last year on 21 February 2011 following the killing by police of student Justin Zongo in the city of Kondougou in the central-west. The incident led to several months of civilian demonstrations against police brutality, impunity, government corruption and high prices in Ouagadougou and other cities.
At the same time (between March and May) a series of mutinies in the army threatened to endanger the regime of President Blaise Compaoré, who has been in power since 1987. Many soldiers were demanding that arrears (udeblevne beløb) on their daily allowance be paid.
However, protests died down when the president’s guard crushed a mutiny in the country’s second-largest city of Bobo Dioulasso in June 2011. At the same time, many civilians stopped their protests and broke away from the soldiers.
The role of the army
Since then the soldiers’ allowances have been paid; and a new head of the army has been appointed as well as several senior commanders as part of a restructure in which 600 soldiers have thus far been demobilized.
But it is unclear whether these changes have succeeded in appeasing the army’s rank and file. Meanwhile, some 300 soldiers have been imprisoned because of their alleged role in the protests and violence.
“Things have returned to normal, but they are not like before – that is not possible,” said Hamidou Idogo, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Thursday, a satirical newspaper known for its independent stance.
“As long as Blaise Compaoré is in power and has not stated he will not stand in 2015, the crisis will not be over,” he told IRIN.
Compaoré has been president since 1987. His political party is in the midst of trying to revise Article 37 of the constitution which stipulates a two-term limit, enabling him to run again in 2015.
Protests continue on a small scale.
Most recently, for instance, on 7 February 2012 a demonstration was organized in the city of Tougan in the northwest to protest against the poor state of the roads, and turned violent when the house of the Member of Parliament for Tougan, Saran Sère, was burned.
On 10 February 2012, students from the Polytechnic University of Bobo-Dioulasso protested against the institution’s poor infrastructure, rising living costs and declining teaching standards.
“There is always a cauldron (kedel) of discontent bubbling away, accompanied by lots of small-scale social conflict,” said a Western diplomat who preferred anonymity. “Lots of people are still unhappy,” he added.
“Climate of mistrust”
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http://www.irinnews.org/Report/95060/Analysis-Burkina-Faso-s-uneasy-peace
