Burkina-Faso: “We always keep a very good cooperation with the United Nations…” says the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olivia ROUAMBA.
A few hours after the official note from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and Burkinabè Abroad notifying the status of “Persona non grata” to the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations system in Burkina Faso, Barbara MANZI, the Burkinabè diplomat was received on the national television channel of the country. Invited to the news programme, Mrs. Olivia ROUAMBA was very indignant about the actions of Barbara MANZI at a time when efforts are being made by the transitional government to restore peace in the country.
In an attempt to clarify the incident caused by the UN diplomat Barbara MANZI’s remarks, which led to her expulsion from the country a few hours later, Mrs. Olivia ROUAMBA was crystal clear.
According to the Burkinabe Minister of Foreign Affairs, on an approach coming from the UN diplomat, deploring the worrying security context on an “unlivable” character in Ouagadougou, Mrs Barbara MANZI is asked in return to transmit by official writing from the United Nations a justification on the valid indicators in order to judge following this report to allow the families to leave Ouagadougou.
After refusing the request for transmission in official writing proposed by the Burkinabe diplomat, the Resident Coordinator of the UN system, Mrs. Barbara MANZI, went to transmit a note referring to the evacuation of UN personnel from Burkina supporting “a chaos in Burkina in the coming months”.
According to the Burkinabe diplomat’s account, Ms. Barbara MANZI also said that she had information from reliable sources without wanting to reveal these sources.
Considering the remarks of Mrs. Barbara MANZI as “inconceivable”, it was decided to declare Barbara MANZI “Persona non grata” on the territory of Burkina Faso.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs condemned the unilateral nature of the decision of the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations system in Burkina Faso and took issue with her remarks aimed at “discrediting the country and discouraging potential investors”.
The Burkinabe diplomat also said that in order to justify her act, the UN diplomat maintained that during her missions in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, all decisions went through her.
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and Burkinabe Abroad, H.E. Mrs Olivia ROUAMBA, “a UN mission should visit Burkina Faso from 12 to 14 January 2023 to observe the situation in this area.
But in reality, the procedure that should allow the mission to assess the situation was trampled underfoot and therefore Ms. Barbara MANZI failed to provide the indicators needed to assess the situation.
Despite the incident, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olivia ROUAMBA, assures that “it is the individual who is not in phase with the vision of the moment in Burkina-Faso”, before recalling that the cooperation with the UN, remains always good.
Miss OLY
