Triumph in Burkina Faso, new elected leader sworn into office

Former prime minister Roch Marc Kabore has been sworn in as Burkina Faso’s new president.

“This will demand that we all acknowledge the state and its crucial role in handling of public affairs as well as its overall authority in harmonious functioning of republican institutions in order to guarantee good governance for the benefit of all citizens”, Kabore, 58, said in his speech after being sworn in.

In his reaction to the arrest of the soldiers, Mr Kabore said that “justice will run its course”. Kabore becomes only the third civilian president of the nine who have ruled since the country’s independence from France in 1960.

New street protests backed by part of the army put Kafando back in the driver’s seat, and he organised the November 30 election won by Kabore. Kabore served under Compaore but went into opposition in 2014.

His election showed he could bring together supporters of Mr Compaore as well as backers of the October 2014 uprising.

When Sankara was gunned down in 1987, Mr Compaore took the reins.

An worldwide arrest warrant remains outstanding for Compaore, but his top general is in jail along with many of his loyalist soldiers.

Accompanying the President to Ouagadougou are Former President Jerry John Rawlings and his wife, General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia and officials of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the newly elected leader of the Peoples National Convention (PNC) Dr. Edward Mahama and officials of the PNC.