Burkina Faso president dismisses prime minister, dissolves government

Burkina Faso President Ibrahim Traore on Friday terminated the duties of Prime Minister Apollinaire Joachimson Kyelem de Tambela and dissolved the government.

According to a presidential decree read out on public television, "the duties of the prime minister are terminated" and "the government is dissolved."

The decree said members of the dissolved government will handle current affairs until a new government is formed.

No explanation of the president's decision was given in the decree.

Kyelem was appointed prime minister by Traore in October 2022, who came to power on Sept. 30 that year following a coup.

 The west African country was plunged into instability by a January 2022 coup in which Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba seized power.

Little more than eight months later, Damiba himself was overthrown by Traore, 36, who now heads the junta regime.

Damiba, who ousted elected president Roch Marc Christian Kabore, is currently in exile in neighbouring Togo.


The junta has made the return of national sovereignty one of its priorities and regularly hits out against Western powers.

Burkina Faso has allied with fellow Sahel nations Mali and Niger, which are also led by military juntas following a string of coups since 2020.

The three nations joined together last September under the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), after severing ties with former colonial ruler France and pivoting towards Russia.