Burkina Faso president steps down from defence portfolio

Burkina Faso’s president has stepped down from the powerful defence post.

President Roch Christian Kabore, has handed control of the defence ministry to a new minister following a cabinet reshuffle, announced on Monday. Jean Claude Bouda, previously the youth minister is now the new minister of defence.

Kabore had held the post himself but had faced calls from some politicians to hand over responsibility.

In the changes, Simone Compaore who held the territorial administration docket was named minister of state security.

The changes are viewed as a way the country is positioning itself in the fight against Islamist militant violence.Armed men affiliated to al-Qaeda stormed two hotels in the capital Ouagadougou in January 2016, killing 30 people.

The land-locked west African nation is struggling to stem the overflow of Islamist militancy from neighbouring Mali.