Jonathan, others decry coup in Burkina Faso

The West African Elders Forum (WAEF) has strongly condemned the military coup in Burkina Faso, calling it a democratic sacrilege that betrays hope and rewinds the clock of democratic progress in Burkina Faso and the sub-region.

The convener of the forum, former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, while reacting to the coup in a statement by his media aide, Mr Wealth Dickson Ominabo, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, said the forum is disturbed by the gradual ceding of the region’s civic space to military adventurers and un-elected leaders.

Jonathan, who is also the Chairman of the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF) described military coups as an unacceptable aberration, declaring that Africa cannot afford to be returned to an “inglorious era when the people’s rights, freedoms and development impetus were restricted.”

The forum also called for the immediate release of the deposed President Roch Kabore and all others being detained and urged the military leaders to return the country to constitutional rule.

“As a forum, we are disturbed by the gradual ceding of our civil and democratic spaces to military adventurers and unelected leaders. This unfortunate trend is embarrassing to our sub-region and the entire continent. The military are trained to protect the state and its sovereignty and not to deploy their guns to overthrow elected civil authorities.

“We state without equivocation that the military should not be seen as the alternative to civil rule. Africa had experienced a long spell of military rule in the past and the people of the continent cannot afford to be returned to an inglorious era when the people’s rights, freedoms and development impetus were restricted.

“We condemn this political aberration in our sub-region and stress that it is unacceptable. We encourage all stakeholders to work in unity in order to safeguard our democracy as well as deliver to our people peace, justice and good governance to our people,” he said.