Elections for the presidency and legislature of Burkina Faso are scheduled to hold on 22 November, 2020. The elections come at a peculiar time and with a lot of challenges as the country faces numerous socio-economic challenges. What are the issues arising ahead of election day in Burkina Faso?
Election Security: The security crisis in Burkina Faso has dominated the campaign of over 13 candidates, who will be running for office in the West African country this Sunday. The insurgency has displaced more than 1 million and killed at least 1600 Burkinabe since 2015. President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, who is running for a second term, has been widely criticised for his inability to curb this violence in the north of Burkina Faso.
Voter Exclusion: The surety situation has caused the country’s government to rule certain areas –up to 17.4 per cent of its electoral communes– unsafe for voter registration. This means the elections will exclude 400,000 Burkinabe voters who have been displaced by armed conflict. On the brighter side, Burkina Faso’s National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) has said that anyone who registered to vote in the 2015 election, won by President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, will still be able to vote in the upcoming polls. A list which has up to 6 million voters.
COVID-19: Like other African countries, the toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on Burkina Faso has been relatively low, compared to the numbers globally. However, it is expected that strict public health guidelines will be followed. The country’s electoral commission is putting in place several measures in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Each of the 105,775 poll workers (five poll workers per each of the 21,155 polling stations) will be provided with cloth face masks and hand sanitisers will be made available for all voters upon entry to the polling stations. Voters are also required to wear face masks to polling units or risk not being allowed to vote.
Gender Inclusion: A 2020 Law on Gender Quota, requires that the lists of candidates for parliamentary and municipal elections must include at least 30 per cent of people of each gender. In addition, the first two-thirds of names on each party list must alternate between men and women. However, this quota has not been met as only 17% represented on the list of candidates are women. In addition, only 1 out of the 13 candidates running for office is female.
Who Will Be Contesting For Presidency?
Thirteen candidates will compete for the presidency, including incumbent President Kaboré who will be seeking his second presidential term. Other prominent candidates include Zéphirin Diabré, Eddie Komboïgo Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo––a former prime minister, Yacouba Isaac Zida and Yeli Monique.
