Summary Kabore is only the third civilian president of nine in office since independence in 1960
OUAGADOUGOU (AFP) - Burkina Faso s new President Roch Marc Christian Kabore took the helm of the defence ministry as he unveiled a new government lineup Wednesday in a nation with a history of coups.
Kabore, only the third civilian president of nine in office since independence in 1960, kept the defence and veterans affairs portfolio for himself as had his predecessor Blaise Compaore, who was overthrown by an uprising in 2014.
Reform of the army is a key consideration in a country where the military has often played a disproportionate role in politics and whose history is peppered with coups and attempts to overthrow the government.
Headed by Prime Minister Paul Kaba Thieba, a former economist and central banker, the 30-member cabinet includes seven women, among them Aridjatou Rosine Coulibaly Sori who takes up the key economy and finance portfolio.
Longtime mayor of the capital Ouagadougou, Simon Compaore -- no relation to the ousted former leader -- becomes deputy head of the government and takes on decentralisation and interior security.
Foreign affairs meanwhile went to a former journalist, Alpha Barry, who founded FM radio Omega and worked as a correspondent for Paris-based French-language network Radio France Internationale.
"This is a fighting government, a government which will be engaged," Thieba told reporters.
"Given the sacrifices made by our youth and our people, it is up to us to rise to the challenge, to concentrate on the struggle we must wage against underdevelopment, injustice, impunity and poverty," he said.
