Some Burkinabes living in Ghana are picketing at their country’s embassy in Accra, demanding that their President Blaise Campaore resigns.
Thousands of protesters poured out onto the streets of the capital, Ouagadougou, on Thursday, after members of Parliament attempted to amend the constitution for the President to extend his tenure of office for another five years.
They torched the parliament building and protested, forcing MPs to halt the process.
The Burkinabes, residing in Ghana say, they decided to picket at the Embassy in Accra to show solidarity to their colleagues in Burkina Faso.
“For the peace of Burkina Faso and for the peace of the ECOWAS sub region and the entire humanity we are here to draw the attention of the embassy to what is happening at home. What we are asking of Blaise Compaore is for him to step down. He shouldn’t amend any constitution for re-election. He should step down for the sake of the population,” one of them told Citi News.
According to them, they will petition the Ambassador and will continue to show up at the embassy until President Blaise Compaore resigns.
Another one said, “Before he was elected he gathered the elders of the city and gave them the same excuse. He wants to use the same strategy today too. We want the president of the ECOWAS President John Mahama to stand up against his colleague. Anything that happens at Burkina Faso will affect Ghana because of the possible influx of refugees. And we are not leaving here till he steps down.”
[contextly_sidebar id=”weMny2E0mJv559iZdMEqcZXiOrasukn7″]Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has sent a strong warning to the people of Burkina Faso that it will not “recognize any ascension to power through non constitutional means,” in the midst of the current political challenges.
This was contained in a press statement signed by it’s Chairman, President John Mahama.
Meanwhile, a statement from the opposition leader Zephirin Diabre has encouraged protesters to stay on the streets.
Reports from Burkina Faso say the President has agreed not to seek another term in office but to serve the rest of his term which ends in November 2015.
Thousands of protesters are back on the streets in Burkina Faso to continue with the demonstration.
The African Union (AU) is also said to be “deeply concerned” about the crisis in Burkina Faso and criticised Compaore’s attempts to alter the constitution to extend his rule.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon dispatched a special envoy to help restore calm and the European Union has called for an end to the violence.
–
By: Nana Boakye-Yiadom/citifmonline.com/Ghana