Activists Stroll From Bamako to Ouagadougou to Promote States’ Federation

HOUNDE, Burkina Faso (Reuters) – A small group of activists have been strolling from Mali’s capital Bamako to Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou to precise their assist for a federation between the 2 West African states.

The group are attributable to arrive in Ouagadougou on Tuesday the place they may finish their march on the Thomas Sankara memorial, a tribute to the previous president and famous pan-Africanist.

The prime ministers of Mali and Burkina Faso mentioned final month they might study the thought of making a federation. It’s not clear precisely what that will entail.

The 2 nations share an extended border and face related challenges. They’re each dominated by army juntas which ousted their democratic governments within the final two years, largely out of frustration at worsening insecurity as Islamist militants step up assaults.

Holding the flags of each nations and the African Union, the group of a couple of dozen women and men walked in single file final week on the aspect of a highway close to Hounde, in western Burkina Faso, as they neared the end line of a trek of greater than 860 km (535 miles).

“It’s for us at this time to push our governments, our establishments, our folks to maneuver in direction of a federation as a result of we imagine that solely the federation will be the worldwide and definitive resolution for Africa,” mentioned Souleymane Diouf Diallo, spokesperson for the group, calling itself “The walkers for African unity”.

“We the African folks need there to be a federation between Mali and Burkina Faso and why not Guinea, Senegal, Ghana later,” he mentioned.

They left Bamako on Feb. 27.

(Reporting by Thiam Ndiaga; Writing by Nellie Peyton; Enhancing by Alison Williams)

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