Rumors were quick to run in foreign chancelleries, as soon as Ibrahim Traoré propelled president of Burkina Faso, thanks to the coup d’etat of September 30 last. Of this thirty-year-old in a red beret they sketch an unflattering composite portrait: “An unstable man, shattered by the dirty war waged against the jihadists in the Center-North”, says a diplomat. “An unbalanced and manipulative soldier”, believes a political scientist on condition of anonymity, in Ouagadougou.
To seize power, the soldier with the youthful face nevertheless showed cold blood. He who had already fomented a first putsch eight months earlier did it again, this time making sure to be at the top of the bill. “The idea is not power, that does not interest us”, he swore in the first hours of the coup, right in his rangers. Empty promises. Just like the guarantees given behind the scenes in Paris, before ordering on January 24 the French army – installed in the region for a decade – to leave Burkinabe territory. Driven out of Mali in 2022, the blue, white and red soldiers suffer a new snub and will have to pack up in a month.
“Fatherland or death!”
In the capital, Ouagadougou, omerta reigns. Few interlocutors agree to speak for a hexagonal media, as the France brand has become radioactive in this country bruised by eight years of terrorism (2 million displaced) and disillusioned with the lack of results of the tricolor soldiers. Not to mention the unfailing support of the Elysée for the autocrat Blaise Compaoré, hated and overthrown by the street in 2014. The putschist captain, he quickly understood the interest of attacking the former colonist by proclaiming, in passing, the heir to the idol of Burkinabe youth: the revolutionary Thomas Sankara, president from 1983 until his assassination four years later.
“Fatherland or death, we will win!” proclaimed the “African Che”. Forty years later, this motto has a very personal connotation for Ibrahim Traoré, who has become the youngest president in the world, at 34, like Sankara. Its popularity is indeed largely based on its sovereignist program, acclaimed by the new generation. To the point, to preserve it, of throwing oneself into the arms of the Russians, in full operation seduction in the Sahel? “In the eyes of Burkina Faso, Mali and other countries in the region, there is nothing contradictory about this,” analyzes Bakary Sambe, director of the Timbuktu Institute in West Africa. their destiny and have the freedom to choose their partners.”
Smelling this clearing wind, Moscow only had to blow on the embers. As in the Central African Republic and Mali (where Wagner’s mercenaries took root), his relays in “Faso” first infiltrated a nebula of local associations, targeting Muslim organizations in particular. A clever bet in a country where this community, although the majority (60% of the population), has historically been marginalized from power. “This taboo question has never been settled”, continues Bakary Sambe. First Muslim president since 1982, Ibrahim Traoré intends to play on this religious affiliation to win a popular base.
The captain knows it, this support is essential if he does not want to suffer the same fate as his two overthrown predecessors. “At any time, the army can turn against him, notes a well-informed observer. This is why he has launched a new campaign to recruit ‘volunteers for the defense of the homeland’, civilian auxiliaries sent to the front after few days of training. To secure his back, Traoré could also give in to the glances of Wagner’s spooks. Some claim that men from the “Orchestre” (the nickname given to these mercenaries) have already invaded Ouagadougou. They could set up their headquarters at the Kamboinsin base, soon to be vacated by the 400 members of the French special forces.