The parliament in Burkina Faso has granted amnesty to President Blaise Compaore and all of the country’s previous heads of state. I would like to remind the readers of this article that this man was a co-defendant in the case of the former Liberian president Charles Taylor in which the latter was sentenced for 50 years by the International Criminal Court in Hague. This article will therefore analyze what this means to President Blaise Compaore in terms of both the national and international legal implication.

Burkina Faso former Upper Volta attained independence from France in 1960, but has spent many of its post-independence years under military rule. Blaise Compaore came to power in a 1987 coup in which popular leader Thomas Sankara was killed. But the ghost of his former friend and ally has not only kept haunting him, but has also left a long foot print in the politics of Burkina Faso. Constant and continuous protests have erupted in the above small West African country. In May last year several thousand people protested across the poor West African country of Burkina Faso to denounce a steep spike in the prices of basic food items and petrol.

About 3,000 people marched in the capital Ouagadougou shouting “No to high living costs.” Other marches were staged in major provincial cities, including the economic capital of Bobo Dioulasso.

 

Although the grievances were considered to be purely economic, many political analysts have said that the fundamental problem is more than what our eyes can see. Indeed, the mutiny of soldiers demanding bonuses and salary increment engulfed towns like Dori, Kaya, Tenkodogo and Koupela. All these political upheavals don’t come out of the blue; they are a culmination and accumulation of bad governance, dictatorship and of course the political history of Burkina Faso. I would like to remind the readers of this article that, President Blaise Compoare has been in power for the last 24 years. Indeed, when all mutinies and protests happened President Blaise responded by dissolving the government and removing his security chiefs, he also granted troops a range of benefits.

Why is he now seeking amnesty through his own parliament?

I’m saying here his own parliament, because it is dominated by his allies who don’t ask why the president would like to jump, but rather how high he would like to jump. This is typical of African politics where the African parliaments are either filled with ladies in the disguise of gender balance and women empowerment or cronies of the ruling party to rubber stamp its policies.

Obviously, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article President Blaise Compoare came to power by not only killing his own best friend and comrade, but also a head of State. Indeed some of his close associates who helped him to overthrow Sankara like Henri Zongo and Jean-Baptiste Boukary Lingani, in September 1989 were arrested, charged with plotting to overthrow the government, summarily tried, and executed.

Interestingly like other dictators on the continent he has won successive elections with more than 80% but this has not hindered the mutiny of soldiers and protests against his rule.

Will this amnesty and immunity exempt him from prosecution?

For the short term yes, but for the long term unlikely. When I say yes for the short term, I mean that as long as his so called friends are still in power after he steps down, it is likely that he can survive the prosecution, but this is not a guarantee because history has shown us to the contrary, take for instance President Fredrick Chiluba of Zambia single handily picked President Levy Mwanawasa but this did not shield him from prosecution. Likewise in Malawi Bingu wa Muthalika was single handily  picked by President  Bakili Muluzi,but Bakili Muluzi was stripped of any immunity and dragged to court to answer charges of corruption, just to mention a few.

On international scene, there is no guarantee whatsoever that President Blaise will not be prosecuted after he steps down, the International Criminal Court (ICC) can be referred to and can refer to the Security Council any criminal case that either falls within or out of its jurisdiction. A good example is former president of Ivory Coast Laurent Gbagbo.

 He is now kept in the drawers of the International Criminal Court, not waiting for the trial but to be sentenced. This is exactly the same fate for those who think that they have changed and manipulated their respective parliaments and laws to give themselves immunity. Therefore like President Blaise Compoare, it’s a matter of time that other dictators on the African continent are forced to pay for all the evils they have committed against humanity.

Jacqueline Umurungi

Brussels

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