Today marked one of the darkest days in 27 years of President Blaise Compaore’s rule in one of the poorest West African State of Burkina Faso.  President Compaore seized power in bloody coup that saw his former President Thomas Sankara killed and buried in a mass grave. Demonstrators angered by President Blaise Compaore’s bid to extend his 27-year rule earlier set fire to parliament and government buildings. Protesters in the capital, Ouagadougou, are calling for him to resign.

Capt Thomas Sankara next to his friend Compaore who ordered his assassination

Since he took power 27 years ago he has not done enough to improve the lives of many people including the youth who constitute the biggest percentage of the Burkina Faso population. Like his counterparts on the Continent he has been organizing elections and wining them, but critics say they have been marred by fraud, corruption, and intimidation.

Whereas his whereabouts are not known, he has called the state of  emergency  and his army chief Gen Honore Traore  announced an the interim administration would be established to run the country for 12 months until the country goes back to the constitutional rule. However, President Blaise is sending conflicting messages that he will stay in power until his term ends next year.

Gen Traore announced that a “transitional body [would] be put in place in consultation with all parties”.

“A return to the constitutional order is expected in no more than 12 months,” he said.

It is not therefore yet clear who is in charge, but what is clear though, the honey moon for President Blaise is over. One of the African Presidents in 1986 said that the African problem is overstaying in power by Presidents, although he has himself reneged on that principle and no one knows for sure how he will retire from politics, he has been in power since 1986. The Rwandan dictator is also planning to change the Constitution so that he can re seek another term after the 2017 when his term expires.

One of his ministers Mr. Fasil Musa has been appearing in the media defending the constitutional amendment as vital for the people to re-elect Kagame according to him Kagame is irreplaceable. What a shame to hear such incompetence from a leader of an opposition party without agenda and policy for his own party. President Compoare took power by killing his friend and comrade Thomas Sankara in 1987; he has won four elections under questionable circumstances since 1991. Compaoré purportedly earned more than 80 percent of the vote in elections held in 1998, 2005 and 2010. Initially ruling in a triumvirate with Henri Zongo and Jean-Baptiste Boukary Lingani, in September 1989 these two were arrested, charged with plotting to overthrow the government, summarily tried, and executed.

In the same way as the Rwandan ruler has sidelined and killed many of his comrades who helped him to capture power, very few remaining in the Rwandan military can challenge the power of Kagame.  Among the comrades killed after reaching Kigali because some were poisoned or assassinated in the Bush war, include  Col Stephen Ndugute(Kalisoso) Col. William Bagire, Col. Willson Rutayisire, Maj. Alex Ruzindana, Maj Birasa, Cpt Frank Tega, Capt Edie, Col. Patrick Karegeya, just to mention a few,  he also attempted an assassination to his army Chief Gen Kayumba Nyamwasa.

Apart from those who have been assassinated, some have been arrested on concocted charges like Gen. Frank Rusagara, Col. Tom Byabagamba. He has made Gen Sam Kaka who was the First Army Chief of Staff immediately after the genocide politically impotent, he has been sidelined and is politically incapacitated. Amazingly  recently the RPF veteran politician Mr Tito Rutaremara was heard in the Rwandan parliament questioning the role of Gen. Kayumba and Dr Rudasingwa  and according to Mr. Tito Rutaremara, the dual were not part of the initial RPF , hence they don’t know  what RPF stood for.

What a contrast of wisdom and why can’t Mr. Tito realize that the public eye is watching him? According to him, Gen Kayumba was a Prefect in Guru in the northern Uganda and Dr. Rudasingwa was in another party, therefore they don’t know what they talking about.  But were Tito and Kagame in Uganda doing during that period when Gen. Kayumba was a Prefect? For those who don’t know Mr. Tito should ask him politely to tell the Rwandan people what he was.  Similarly, his Boss Paul Kagame was a deputy intelligence officer and by the time the RPF invaded Rwanda in 1990 he was in US Military Academy.

Common sense could tell anybody with a sober and sounding  mind who was who in the RPF during the initial days and the creation of the RPF that was later hijacked by TITO and his BOSS Kagame.

The question would be, a deputy intelligence officer at Basima house and the Special Administrator as they were called at the time when Gen Kayumba was a leader there, who was more superior? Mr. Tito is either playing comedy or he is losing his memory because of old age. In fact many people in RPF never trusted Mr. Tito because of his Marxist ideals; he was kept uninformed on important issues pertaining RPF.

For those who don’t remember the controversy of Mr. Tito on the BBC Gahuzamiryango when he was defending the business empire of his boss and the private luxury jets that President Kagame owns, Mr. Tito said that they are owned by a little known former Prof. Masseh Nshuti and Hatari Sekoko. When President Kagame was asked about this question during his weekly press briefing, he disowned Tito and he said that at least Tito would have attached those planes to Kagame.

As President Blaise Compaore is in his final days, in the rise and fall, so are many dictators on the continent who are anxiously trying to change their constitutions so that they seek re-election. If the African rulers can’t learn from what is happening in Burkina Faso, then the people of those countries have every right to demand their rights. As Fidel Castro put it during his defense in the aborted attack on Moncada Baracks “History will absolve me” let’s all of us who stand up for human rights and freedoms be absolved by History.

Jacqueline Umurungi

Brussels.