Burkina Faso's military junta disbands electoral commission, calling it a waste of money

Burkina Faso's military rulers have disbanded the country's electoral commission, calling it a waste of money.

"Abolishing the commission would reinforce our sovereign control on the electoral process and, at the same time, limit foreign influences," Territorial Administration Minister Emile Zerbo said, according to state-owned RTB TV.

Consequently, the Ministry of Interior will handle future elections in the country that has been under the leadership of Captain Ibrahim Traoré since September 2022, following a military coup.

Captain Traorè has instigated a raft of changes in the country that saw the elections that would have been held last year postponed until July 2029.

The move gives him more time to rule and denies the country a chance to sooner revert to civilian rule.

Elsewhere in the West Africa region, Senegal has also severed the country's relations with France, its former coloniser, a move that has led to France ceasing its military operations in the country.

The last of the French soldiers who were occupying two military bases left the country on Thursday after handing them over to the government, marking an end to their long presence in the country.

"Today's transfer of Camp Geille marks a new stage in the evolution of the partnership between our two armed forces. It is a response to the Senegalese authorities' wish to no longer have permanent foreign forces present on their territory," the commander of French forces in Africa, General Pascal Ianni, told journalists.

The two countries agreed to complete that process by the end of the year, and it began in March when France handed over two other facilities, also in Dakar.

The French forces' presence in Senegal dates back more than two centuries.

General Mbaye Cisse, the Head of the Senegalese armed forces general staff, said the two nations have signed a new agreement that would allow Senegal to continue benefiting from training and information exchanges.

Last year, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye announced that France's military bases were incompatible with Senegalese sovereignty and would have to be transferred.

"The process has, however, been more amicable than the departure of French soldiers from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, where military juntas have pushed out French troops and turned to Russia for help fighting jihadist insurgencies," a report by Reuters noted.