The former president of Burkina Faso has been under house arrest since his overthrow more than two months ago by the military currently in power.

Roch Marc Christian Kaboré is finally back home. On Wednesday, April 6, the transitional government announced in a statement that the former president of Faso will join the same day “his home at Ouagadougou”, the capital of the country.

“However, the government reassures that measures are taken to ensure his safety,” added the statement signed by the spokesman Lionel Bilgo.

On 31 March, the transitional government had given pledges for the release of the former president after the Economic Community of West African States ECOWAS expressed its concerns at the last meeting of heads of state of the region held in Accra, the capital of Ghana.

“On the concern related to the former President of Faso, the Government of Burkina Faso wishes to reassure the ECOWAS Commission, as well as the entire international community, that for a little over three weeks, consultations have been initiated at the national level and are ongoing with a view to achieving the return of the former President to a family residence of his choice while guaranteeing his safety,” the Burkinabe government  admitted.

Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, 67, was arrested on 24 January by a garrison of soldiers led by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba, who has since been recognised as head of state by national courts.

A few weeks after his investiture, a “constitutional charter of the transition”, signed by the new head of the junta, sets at thirty-six months the transition period before new elections for which the transition president will not be eligible.