Burkina Faso Military Rulers have a long -time for election committees, taking control of future surveys

Burkina’s military rulers have dissolved the country’s election committee, calling it a loss of money.

The interior ministry will handle the election in the future, state RTB television reported.

After seizing power in September 2022, the leaders of the coup launched extensive reforms, including the postponement of elections that would lead to a return to civil government.

A national vote is to come last year, but the junta extended the transition to democracy to July 2029, allowing leader Captain Ibrahim Traore to remain in power and free to challenge the next presidential election.

The AFP News Agency quotes the Minister of the Territorial Administration Emil Zerbo that the Election Commission has been “subsidized” with about $ 870,000 ($ 650,000) a year.

The removal of the committee will “strengthen our state control over the election process and at the same time restricts foreign influences,” he added.

After they came to power three years ago against the backdrop of criticism that civilian authorities were unable to cope with the growing Islamist rebellion, military leaders rejected the assistance of the former colonial authorities France in favor of Russia.

Since then, rights groups have accused the army of heading to civilians in their attempt to cancel the fighters, as well as suppresses political activity and freedom of expression.

There are also questions about the effectiveness of military operation. In the first half of 2025, the jihadist group JNIM said it had carried out more than 280 attacks in Burkina Faso – doubled the number for the same period in 2024, according to data checked by the BBC.

Additional reporting from BBC Monitoring and David Bamford.