Ibrahim Traoré, president of Burkina Faso since October 2022, polarizes opinion, not only in Burkina Faso itself but also on the Pan-African and internationalist left. Some cheer for him as the hope for a new Pan-Africanism, the long overdue end of French imperialism in West Africa, and (resource) sovereignty. Others point to the authoritarian traits of the regime and to the repression against trade unionists, civil society activists, and journalists.
The scope of Traoré’s political projects and the pace at which they are being implemented are significant. This is generating enthusiasm, particularly among the young generation, who vehemently reject French neocolonial dominance and are highly frustrated by a gerontocratic political system that is unable or unwilling to deliver reform. However, the question remains whether a military government can be the alternative, and whether the ends justify the means.
Ibrahim Traoré and his “Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration” (MPSR 2) seized power through a coup d’état on September 30, 2022. Traoré overthrew the previous military government of Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, which had itself only come to power in January 2022 through a coup. Damiba’s junta called itself MPSR.
Ibrahim Traoré polarizes opinion, not only in Burkina Faso itself but also on the Pan-African and internationalist left.
Neither Damiba nor Traoré came to power with a worked-out political-ideological agenda. They both justified their coups by pointing to the previous government’s failure to cope with the security crisis. Attacks by jihadist groups had increased massively since the late 2010s, resulting in several thousand deaths annually, closures of schools and medical facilities, and the internal displacement of over two million people.
Given that his main and only agenda was the “fight against terror,” at the end of 2022, no one would have predicted that Traoré would implement political reforms,…
Auteur: Bettina Engels
