Ouagadougou is now the scene of a war of influence between France and Russia.
On the eve of the national assembly convened for October 14 and 15, 2022, at the end of which the living forces will validate the charter of the transition and the criteria for choosing a new president, Yacouba Isaac Zida appeared on social media suggestng a close collaboration with Moscow.
“The Burkinabe people have clearly made their choice since the September 30 events, and this choice is Captain Ibrahim Traore,” says the former Prime Minister of the 2015 Transition.
Having seized power through a coup against Lieutenant Colonel Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR) has, in its basic act, consecrated Captain Ibrahim Traore, head of state, pending the designation of a “civilian or military president”, after the adoption of the transition charter.
There have been scenes of demonstrations and the expression of anti-French sentiment in the wake of the coup, and the former Prime Minister has just reinforced this feeling by taking a stand for Moscow.
“It is necessary to move quickly and recapture the national territory. To that effect, there is also a choice to make, that of a new strategic partnership. Russia, as a partner, will provide Burkina Faso with the military equipment necessary to confront this jihadist insurgency,” says Yacouba Isaac Zida.
Taking the example of neighboring Mali, he believes that with Moscow, the Burkinabe army will be equipped with reconnaissance aircraft, real combat helicopters, the latest generation of weapons and many other essential means to rout the “terrorists.”
“Since the beginning of this war six years ago, not all our soldiers are yet equipped with an individual weapon. We are not even talking about the mobilized volunteers who sometimes go to meet the enemy armed only with their courage and their talismans,” he said.
Yacouba Zida wonders about the usefulness of the “hundreds of billions, annually injected into the defense budget.”
“Everything suggests that there is a vast project of gradual annihilation of this country that we inherited from our ancestors,” he adds.
He invites the Burkinabe people to stand up until the total liberation of the country was achieved.
Since 2015, Burkina Faso has been facing an increasing rise in insecurity, due to non-state armed groups.
DS/ac/fss/as/APA