Septuagenarian Kafando named Burkina Faso interim president

Seventy-two-year-old Michel Kafando, a former foreign minister (pictured), has been chosen as Burkina Faso’s interim president, beating two journalists and one academic to the post.

The decision, which was reached by political, military, religious, civil and traditional leaders in Burkina Faso, resulted from the amicable signing of a charter on Sunday, towards the country’s yearlong transition to elections.

Earlier, Blaise Compaore was forced to resign office after the military supported civilian protests in the country as he sought to extend his 27-year-long tenure.

This led to the emergence of Isaac Zida, a lieutenant colonel, as the self-declared head of state, with the African Union asking him to relinquish power in two weeks.

Although Zida dismissed the sanction threat, country heads from the West African region converged on Burkina Faso to plan a smooth transition of power to a civilian government.

The transitional charter now set up will see an interim legislative chamber and a transitional leader installed until elections are organised in November 2015 as earlier announced by Ghanaian President John Mahama.

Though negotiations in Ouagadougou continued into the early hours of Monday, Kafando is first expected to name a prime minister, who will appoint a 25-member government to oversee the coming elections.

Kafando, who is a one-time foreign minister and former Burkina Faso’s ambassador to the United Nations, will not be allowed to contest the November 2015 election.