Mali and Burkina Faso, two countries ruled by military putschists and facing an acute security crisis, have announced that they have laid the foundations for a federation between the two states. This was at the end of a joint council of governments between the Burkinabe Prime Minister Apollinaire Joachimson Kyelem de Tambèla and the Malian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maïga which took place on Friday evening in Ouagadougou.
Choguel Kokalla Maïga, head of the Malian government was on a working and friendship visit to Burkina Faso on 23 February. Among the concerns raised during the visit were the security challenges common to both countries and the fight against terrorism, the transition process, humanitarian issues, regional cooperation and the project for a federation between the two states.
“All the time we have spent discussing is to see how we can propose milestones for the federation of the two countries, the two peoples. Peoples are already federated and it is the administrative and political devices that separate them,” said the head of the Burkinabe government, Apollinaire Joachimson Kyelem de Tambèla. To this end, in order to create a federation, the two states must set up an appropriate administrative and political apparatus. Thus, according to the final communiqué signed by the two heads of government, “at the opening of the work of the Joint Council of Governments, the two Prime Ministers welcomed the effective holding of this bilateral consultation framework and wished that it be institutionalised with a periodicity of six months for its holding and in an alternating manner”.
As for Choguel Maïga, his main concern remains the fight for the peace of the population. And this, he explained, requires “security, physical, food, educational, health and other security. Because without security, there is no democracy,” he said.
In addition, the Malian Prime Minister was accompanied by a strong delegation of ministers and other personalities. Thus, at the end of a meeting between the Burkinabe and Malian ministers of energy, Simon-Pierre Boussim (Burkinabe minister in charge of energy) stated that the two countries are considering an electrical interconnection with the Republic of Guinea. “This interconnection will allow us to develop our energy capacity in order to further propel industrialisation,” he said.
Burkina and Mali being two gold-producing countries in Africa, the two states agreed to consolidate together the security around the mining sites and the fight against gold fraud. “We must work to definitively dry up the sources of financing for terrorism,” continued Simon-Pierre Boussim.
The delegation stayed in Ouagadougou until Sunday 26 February 2023.
