As of January 29, the military governments of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger announced that they have officially left the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). According to The New York Times, tensions between the three countries and ECOWAS began in 2023 after Nigerien officers overthrew the civilian government in a military coup. This followed a 2021 coup in Mali and a 2022 coup in Burkina Faso.
Read MoreOn April 26, the media regulatory body of Burkina Faso, the Conseil Supérieur de la Communication, or CSC, announced that both the BBC and Voice of America (VOA) radio stations would be suspended for two weeks due to their broadcasts which covered reports of mass killings by the nation’s military and warned all media networks to avoid any further coverage of the situation says the Associated Press.
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This decision comes after military coups took place in Mali in 2020 and 2021, in Burkina Faso in 2022, and in Niger in 2023. ECOWAS responded by suspending all three countries from the bloc and imposing heavy sanctions on Niger and Mali.
Read MoreMr. Yameogo is not your ordinary graduate student; he is the national General Secretary for the Congress for Democracy and Progress Party (CDP) in his home country of Burkina Faso. In addition, he is a candidate for the 2020 Burkina Faso presidential elections.
Read MoreThe New York Times poses that the coup was motivated by the threat of disbanding the Regiment of Presidential Security in response to negative public opinion.
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