Burkina Faso junta names new PM after dismissing government

A day after dissolving government, Burkina Faso’s military junta has announced a new premier. Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo served as communication minister and spokesman of the previous government.

Burkina Faso junta names new PM after dismissing government.
A day after dissolving government, Burkina Faso’s military junta has announced a new premier. Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo served as communication minister and spokesman of the previous government.

Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo previously served as communications minister under the junta.

The head of Burkina Faso’s military junta named former communications minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo as prime minister late on Saturday.

The appointment comes one day after the country’s ruling military leader Captain Ibrahim Traore dismissed outgoing premier Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela and dissolved the government.

No reason was given for his removal. Tambela had headed three successive governments since Traore seized power in a 2022 coup.
Ouedraogo, who served in Tambela’s cabinet, is a journalist by trade.

He was formerly editor-in-chief and later director of the Sahel country’s state television network.

Ouedraogo is also a close ally of Traore.

After the September 2022 coup, Traore tapped Ouedraogo to serve as communications minister and government spokesperson.

He remained key civilian figure in the military administration and remained in the role across three cabinet reshuffles.