President Ibrahim Traore, in a short speech broadcast over the weekend expressed optimism about victory over the jihadists who have been marauding his country for years.
For the second year in a row, there was no extravagant commemoration of December 11, marking Burkina Faso’s Independence Day.
“This is not a time for celebration. Our independence has not been achieved, because our land is occupied. Our economy is in its infancy and our hands are tied,” Captain Ibrahim Traore said.
In power since September 30, 2022, he believed that the fate of the country changed on that day.
“The fight for total independence has begun,” Traore, the head of the transition said, adding that “this fight is through weapons, but also through our values, our behavior, and the recovery of our economy.”
On the subject of the armed struggle against “the enemy who occupies our land,” Captain Traore maintained that the campaign was just beginning.
He expressed gratitude to the units engaged against the jihadists, who have “still been holding out on the ground” for months.
Anti corruption crusade
As for economic recovery, Traore stressed that it necessarily involves the fight against corruption.
“This fight is also underway,” he said.
“In order for this fight to be led by the Burkinabe people to liberate the land of Burkina,” Captain Traore asked the population to make more sacrifices and to remain “confident, united and mobilized” behind the forces fighting against terrorism.
He called for a change in behavior and praised the surge of solidarity “from Burkinabe who have agreed to give us their trucks to go and supply Burkinabe” in several areas under blockade from jihadist groups.
Hope in the air
Similarly for the supervision and training of Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), Captain Traore said that the army had received donations of all kinds from food to equipment and infrastructure work.
For him, entertaining hope is understandable despite the circumstances.
“Our struggle will only end when all the children of Burkina Faso have enough to eat and sleep peacefully in their country,” concluded the man who ousted Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba in September.
The security crisis blighting Burkina since 2015 has led to the displacement of nearly two million people and thousands of civilian and military casualties.
DS/ac/fss/as/APA