Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08OUAGADOUGOU318
2008-04-20 16:28:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ouagadougou
Cable title:  

BURKINA FASO: MILITARY RETIREES SURPRISE GOVERNMENT WITH

Tags:  PGOV MARR ELAB UV 
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RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHOU #0318/01 1111628
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 201628Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY OUAGADOUGOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3581
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CDR USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 OUAGADOUGOU 000318 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR AF/W EPLUMB, JHUTCHISON
ABIDJAN FOR DATT
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV MARR ELAB UV
SUBJECT: BURKINA FASO: MILITARY RETIREES SURPRISE GOVERNMENT WITH
AGGRESSIVE DEMANDS FOR IMPROVED BENEFITS; MOVEMENT OF CAMPS OUTSIDE
OF MAIN CITIES

REFTELS: A) 06 OUAGADOUGOU 1159;
B) 07 OUAGADOUGOU 0027;
C) 07 OUAGADOUGOU 0807
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 OUAGADOUGOU 000318

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR AF/W EPLUMB, JHUTCHISON
ABIDJAN FOR DATT
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV MARR ELAB UV
SUBJECT: BURKINA FASO: MILITARY RETIREES SURPRISE GOVERNMENT WITH
AGGRESSIVE DEMANDS FOR IMPROVED BENEFITS; MOVEMENT OF CAMPS OUTSIDE
OF MAIN CITIES

REFTELS: A) 06 OUAGADOUGOU 1159;
B) 07 OUAGADOUGOU 0027;
C) 07 OUAGADOUGOU 0807

1. (SBU) Summary. Beginning in October 2007, a group of retired and
soon-to-be retired Burkinabe soldiers participated in unauthorized
demonstrations to argue for increased benefits and retirement ages.
The Government offered to reemploy retired military as civil
servants and provide a fund for individual business ventures, but
refused to increase retirement ages. The Government arrested
several demonstration leaders, and later released them. As of early
February, almost half of eligible military retirees had signed up
for the new benefits, but a dwindling number of hardliners held
another organizational meeting on April 13.

2. (SBU) Another source of discontent, this time for active
soldiers, is a Government plan to construct new military camps in
towns at a considerable distance from Ouagadougou and
Bobo-Dioulasso. Some military personnel are upset that this move
will separate them from their families. The plan is in part
designed to reduce the possibility of coup attempts against the
Government, and of violent clashes between the armed forces and
paramilitary (gendarmes and national police),such as broke out in
December 2006 between army and police elements in Ouagadougou. End
Summary.
December 2006: Army-Police Shootouts Lead to Creation
of Commission on Recruitment, Training, and Benefits
-------------- --------------


3. (SBU) In the immediate aftermath of December 2006 clashes between
police and military in Ouagadougou that left several dead (refs A,
B),a commission composed of high-ranking officers and military
representatives was named to identify and resolve problems facing
the armed forces. During these discussions, retired and soon-to-be
retired soldiers presented a list of requests, which the commission
left unaddressed until a second meeting held in mid-October 2007. A
central complaint of these soldiers was that the current retirement
age was too low to support families with school-aged children. Also

important, many soldiers including officers, once retired from the
military, lacked the training necessary to find skilled jobs.

October 2007: Retired Soldiers Surround
Armed Forces Headquarters to Press Demands
--------------


4. (SBU) On October 7 and 9, 2007 soldiers led two demonstrations in
Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso to publicly announce their grievances
in advance of the second commission meeting scheduled for
mid-October. Although the demonstration in Ouagadougou did not turn
violent, it was briefly tense, with a ring of mainly retired
soldiers, some in uniform, surrounding the armed forces
headquarters, and a second cordon of police surrounding the soldiers
(ref C). The demonstrators called on the Government to:

- give pension credit for 2 years of service that were previously
ineligible for pensions;
- extend the retirement age by 4 years for each service (current
ages are 46 years for privates, 48 years for sergeants and staff
sergeants, 48-54 for non-commissioned officers, and 54-60 for the
senior officers);
- grant retirement allowances to the officers who retired in 2006;
and,
- grant "reinsertion" (into civilian life) payments to those who
retired in 2006, instead of beginning with those who retired in

2007.
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Government Response to Soldiers' Demands - President Compaore's
Brother Mediates, Some Concessions Made
-------------- --------------

5. (SBU) In the light of these public demands by the retired
soldiers, which embarrassed and angered some active-duty senior
officers, the Government responded by opening negotiations.
Demonstrating the seriousness with which the Government took the
situation, Francois Compaore, the younger brother of President
Blaise Compaore, mediated between military leaders and Government
representatives to postpone a second round of demonstrations until
at least mid-November.

6. (SBU) The GOBF then offered retired officers employment in civil
service and in territorial community administrations. According to
the Minister of Defense, around 3,000 former soldiers were to be
recruited for civil service positions across the country. The
government also agreed to establish a reinsertion fund for those
retired officers willing to start income-generating projects in
agriculture or livestock raising.

OUAGADOUGO 00000318 002 OF 003


Retirees Reject Offer by Government,
Which Hardens Its Position, Arrests Leaders
--------------


7. (SBU) These proposals were initially rejected by many retirees
and soon-to-be retires, and the latter insisted on demands to
postpone their retirement for an additional 4 years. The
government, for its part, went ahead and started implementing its
proposals, including registering participants.


8. (SBU) In January, in the face of the refusal of some
demonstrators to abandon their demands, the Government took a harder
line. It told the press that it considered the former soldiers'
demands "legally groundless," and moved to criminalize future
protests involving military. (The Government also arrested and
later released several of the demonstration leaders, including
finally releasing the top leader, Clement Ouedraogo, on April 4.)


9. (SBU) Also in January, a group of retired soldiers held a general
assembly in Ouagadougou where they denounced: Government attempts at
intimidation, the mediation of conflicts by the Mogho Naba (a local
traditional authority),and the refusal of authorities to grant them
access to the retirees' center to conduct their meetings. They
vowed to continue to fight the Government and plan general assembly
meetings. Although their ranks had thinned, they did hold another
meeting on April 13.


10. (SBU) As of early February, 44% or 1,183 out of 2,700 potential
beneficiaries had registered for the Government's new program.
Soldiers interested in the reinsertion fund to develop businesses
have begun receiving payments, according to an Embassy contact. In
an April 4 meeting with officials from the Ministries of Defense and
Transportation, retired officers complained that they were being
offered jobs that they were unqualified for, or that were too far
from their homes. Government officials promised to continue working
on the issue.

Movement of Military Camps Outside of Major Cities:
Another Potential Source of Discontent in Armed Forces
-------------- --------------


11. (SBU) In the aftermath of the December 2006 shootouts between
army and police elements, the Government constituted a commission
led by the gendarmerie (which had not taken part in the incidents)
to look at ways to reduce the possibility of similar incidents, the
head of the National Gendarmerie told us. One action taken soon
afterwards was to inventory weapons in armories, and attempt to make
them more secure from theft or attack. (Note: This commission may be
the same one examining military retiree benefits. End note.)


12. (SBU) Another recommendation made by the commission was to move
military camps further away from the two major cities of Ouagadougou
and Bobo-Dioulasso. At present, there are plans to build facilities
in Fada N'Gourma, Tenkodogo, and Kaya, with construction to start
later this year. This move was intended to allow for growth, cut
down on tension between military and paramilitary (gendarmes and
police) and between military and civilians, and decrease the problem
of military idleness (and resulting delinquent behavior affecting
the surrounding population).


13. (SBU) Many soldiers already want to contest the plan to move the
camps, which was obliquely referenced by Prime Minister Tertius
Zongo in his March 27 "State of the Union" address before the
National Assembly. Many soldiers prefer their current camps in or
just outside of Ouagadougou because they can live with their
families. Since families usually do not move when soldiers are
transferred to new locations, the prospect of deployment to newly
constructed camps has created unhappiness in the ranks, sources have
told us.


14. (SBU) Comment: This initiative is also partly designed to reduce
the possibility of a coup attempt or instability that might inspire
one. The movement of camps to locations removed from Burkina Faso's
two major cities could, for example, make more difficult future
demonstrations like those that occurred in October to the extent
that most active duty soldiers would be well outside of the capital.
This move would also make Compaore's "praetorian" Presidential
Guard less vulnerable to armed forces regulars.

JACKSON

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