The announcement was made by military leader Ibrahim Traore in a presidential decree broadcast on state television.
Ouedraogo, a journalist by profession and a close ally of Traore, had previously served as editor-in-chief and later as director of the national state television.
No reasons were given for the removal of former Prime Minister Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela, who had been appointed interim premier after Traore seized power in September 2022. The junta had ousted Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who had led a coup to remove the democratically elected President Roch Marc Kaboré just eight months earlier.
Burkina Faso is one of several West African countries where the military has recently taken control, capitalizing on growing public dissatisfaction with previous governments’ handling of security issues.
Despite taking power on the premise of addressing the country’s security crisis, the junta has struggled to reverse the growing wave of extremist violence, particularly from groups affiliated with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. These attacks have devastated the country, claiming thousands of lives and displacing more than two million people, half of them children. Analysts estimate that around half of Burkina Faso’s territory remains outside of government control.
The junta’s transitional government has been operating under a constitution approved by a national assembly that includes army officers, civil society groups, and traditional and religious leaders. Under pressure from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the junta had initially set a goal of holding elections in July 2024 to restore democratic rule. However, in May, the junta extended its transition period by another five years, effectively postponing elections until 2029.
Along with Mali and Niger, which have also experienced military coups, Burkina Faso has severed ties with longtime Western and regional partners, including ECOWAS, which all three countries abandoned earlier this year. The three nations have since formed the Alliance of Sahel States and are collectively fighting jihadist violence, which first erupted in northern Mali in 2012.
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