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New Burkina Faso President Sworn In


Newly elected president of Burkina Faso, Roch Marc Kabore, waves at supporters after preliminary results showed him to be the winner of recent elections, outside his campaign headquarters in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Dec. 1, 2015. Kabore took the oath of office on Dec. 29, 2015.
Newly elected president of Burkina Faso, Roch Marc Kabore, waves at supporters after preliminary results showed him to be the winner of recent elections, outside his campaign headquarters in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Dec. 1, 2015. Kabore took the oath of office on Dec. 29, 2015.

Burkina Faso has a new leader for the first time in nearly 30 years, as President Roch Marc Kabore took the oath of office Tuesday.

Kabore promised to "preserve, respect, enforce and defend the constitution" in a ceremony from Ouagadougou broadcast live on Burkinabe radio and television.

Kabore's swearing-in comes 14 months after former president Blaise Compaore was overthrown in a mass uprising, sparked by an attempt to extend his 27-year-rule.

A transitional government organized the presidential election that Kabore won last month with 53 percent of the vote.

The vote was originally set for October but was delayed by a failed coup attempt by members of Burkina Faso's elite presidential guard.

The 58-year-old Kabore was an ally of Compaore for a quarter century before breaking with the former president a few months before his downfall.

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