Roch Kabore wins Burkina Faso presidential election

Burkina Faso’s electoral body on Tuesday announced Roch Kabore as winner of the presidential election.

Provisional results from Sunday’s election showed Mr. Kabore winning 53.5 per cent of the votes to defeat former Finance Minister Zephirin Diabre, who scored 29.7 per cent, and 12 other candidates, the electoral commission said.

Turnout for the election was about 60 per cent, the outright majority means there would be no run-off.

“This election went off in calm and serenity, which shows the maturity of the people of Burkina Faso,” Barthelemy Kere, president of the electoral commission, told a news conference.

Crowds celebrated the news in the streets of the capital, Ouagadougou, honking car and motorbike horns.

The election of Kabore, the nation’s former prime minister, represented a pivotal moment for the West African nation.

The country had been ruled by leaders who came to power in coups for most of its history since independence from France in 1960.

Mr. Kabore served as prime minister and head of the National Assembly under President Blaise Compaore, who was toppled by an uprising in October 2014 after 27 years in power.

Mr. Kabore split with Mr. Compaore early 2014 and formed an opposition party.

Speaking on his victory, Mr. Kabore told his supporters that “my first thought is to recognise the honour of this high office and to feel the weight of its great responsibility”.

Mr. Kabore heads the Movement of People for Progress, MPP, made up of disaffected former allies of Mr. Compaore.

Many people say their priority is for the new president to promote economic growth in the landlocked country, which produces gold and cotton but remains impoverished.

(Reuters/NAN)