Kristi Pelzel is a Senior White House correspondent for Today News Africa in Washington D.C. Kristi also covers the US Department of State and the United Nations. She holds a master’s degree from Georgetown University.
The White House is sending a presidential delegation to attend the inauguration of President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré of Burkina Faso.
U.S. special envoy for the Sahel Region Ambassador J. Peter Pham will lead the delegation on Monday, December 28, 2020, to the capital Ouagadougou, and will participate in bilateral meetings in the West African nation. President Kaboré has been in office since 2015.
Pham will reaffirm U.S. commitment to peace and security, economic development, democracy, and respect for human rights, the U.S. Department of State said in a statement.
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Multiple reports said the threat of Islamist violence resulted in the closure of nearly one-fifth of polling booths countrywide that supports almost 7 percent of the electorate. Nonetheless, the electoral commission has dismissed the claims of “massive fraud” cited by the opposition.
This comes as a time when unicef reported 2.9 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, ongoing attacks by non-state armed groups, over 350,000 children out of school, and 2.4 million people without access to safe water.
With another five-years to work together, the U.S. and Burkina Faso hope to continue their regional partnership.
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