Council of Ministers: Important Decisions for the Smooth Running of the Nation

Ouagadougou, September 19, 2024. The President of Faso, the Head of State, Captain Ibrahim TRAORE chaired the Council of Ministers, which examined a number of reports and took important decisions for the smooth running of the Nation.

Ministry of Economy and Finance: Fight Against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing

The Council adopted two decrees under the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The first is a preliminary draft law related to the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in Burkina Faso.

“This system has brought a certain number of innovations, especially considering all electronic transactions, because these transactions are also a means of money laundering. There is also the strengthening of the sanctions system, the detection system for everything related to the financing of terrorism, everything related to the fight against money laundering,” Minister Aboubakar NACANABO noted.

Adoption of a Preliminary Draft Amending the Finance Law

The second decree concerns the adoption of a preliminary draft amending the finance law. According to Minister NACANABO, “half way, the update was taken on the implementation of the budget and the need to make adjustments to consider the new initiatives taken and also the current issues that came to light.”

The new reform finance law will make it possible to strengthen the social protection system for human capital and support the industrialization of the country. The minister said that the State has granted a tax exemption for the benefit of the production of wheat flour, corn, sorghum, and other cereals produced locally.

Ministry of Justice and Human Rights: Community Service Sentence

The Council adopted a measure on the administration of work of general interest on behalf of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. “Our prisons today are full of people convicted for X reasons; this prison overcrowding can be used for other purposes (…). The aim of the community service sentence is effectively to solve this problem because it will be replaced by systematic imprisonment,” stated the Minister in Charge of Justice, Edasso Rodrigue BAYALA.

This law includes innovations, including the fact that community service now becomes an independent sentence. In addition, for a certain number of offences, the community service sentence will be imposed systematically and automatically by the judge.

Ministry of Urban Planning and Housing: Urban Development Programme

The Council validated an urban development programme on behalf of the Ministry of Urban Planning and Housing. According to the Minister responsible for town planning Mikaïlou SIDIBE, the aim of this program, which is part of the vision of the President of Faso, Captain Ibrahim TRAORE, is essentially to modernize our cities.

The components of the program are development within cities, modernisation, renewal of the historic hearts of cities, old neighborhoods, and finally the development of secondary cities.