Following Burkina Faso’s second coup in just 8 months, a situation of instability reigns over the country. Captain Ibrahim Traore revealed to the Voice of America Radio that “if we wanted, we would have taken him within five minutes of fighting and maybe he would be dead, the president. But, we do not want this catastrophe. We do not want to harm him, because we do not have a personal problem with him. We are fighting for Burkina Faso.”
In the same vein, he added that “we are not here to claim power, it is of no interest to us. It does not allow for a peaceful life. But we want to fight, we want to protect our population, take it out of this misery, underdevelopment and insecurity. This is our fight.”
He also put emphasis on the human aspect of this coup “leaders in power do not care at all for people. Human is important. We need to do everything for him, fight against the suffering that we endure.” Captain Ibrahim Traore did not miss the chance to address the phenomenon of corruption present in Burkina Faso, stating that “by treating the human as a minor logistical debate, people have become billionaires. It is this bourgeoisie that we denounce too. People are with us because they know our goals and the patriotism that moves us.”
Illustrating his claim, Captain Ibrahim Traore went on to mention that “you need to be in Burkina Faso to understand the gravity of the situation. Imagine when you go to villages, all the tree leaves are gone, because people eat them.” He also stated that “we have suggested many solutions to help these people, but we are not heard.”
When asked about whether this transition will respect the agenda put in place by ECOWAS, Captain Ibrahim Traore stated that “we will probably do it before the deadline. When we estimated the time needed for the implementation of our program, it was clear that we did not even need 12 months to do it. We do not need 2 years, so ECOWAS need not worry.”
The population, having harbored a strong anti-French sentiment for a while, reached its tipping point amidst difficult times and an incontestable decline of France’s influence on the continent.
The anger that was brewing, was taken out on the French embassy in Ouagadougou and its visa services with protesters setting them on fire and throwing rocks at windows. It is worthy to note that this anti-French sentiment has spread out all through Africa, with countries such as Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria getting slapped with visa restrictions. Africa’s relations with France are going downhill, to say the least.