36 Comments
User's avatar
Yaw's avatar

Great read. This didn't just start with Traore either. Sankara was 1.0 of African messiahism in Burkina faso:

Sankara was genuinely incorruptible and did plant a lot of trees, but despite his talks of "no foreign aid" he depended on French aid and France saved Burkina Faso from the 1980s sahelian drought.

https://open.substack.com/pub/yawboadu/p/economic-and-geopolitical-history-642?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=garki

Expand full comment
Ayomide Ojo's avatar

Thank you. Insightful article!

Expand full comment
Zoroy Wonderer's avatar

It is beyond disappointing that so many young, educated Africans idolize him as the model African leader. What society will these people build?

Expand full comment
CrumpledForeskin's avatar

Will you expand on what you’re saying? I’m confused on why there is so much contempt for him.

Expand full comment
SeuBongo's avatar

People who say this are definetly projecting

>He has also banned the wearing of British wigs and gowns in Burkina Faso’s courts.

For the simple fact that as most former French colonies, no judge has ever worn a fucking British wig.

Expand full comment
Wale's avatar

Sooner or later someone will overthrow him too.

Expand full comment
Anubis3755's avatar

It’s humorous because Damiba (ruled for 9 months) appropriated the Sankara style and rhetoric just the same. He’s been memory holed tho

Expand full comment
Uti Ogedegbe's avatar

"And if the people are too timid to protect him, Traoré has the enviable honor of being the only head of state who carries a Glock on his hip wherever he walks. If the colonizer appears, my captain will shoot on sight"

Subscribed! 😂😂

Expand full comment
busayo's avatar

You write a lot like the village soothsayer you mentioned in your piece.

Expand full comment
The Africa Review's avatar

I fear this article may be as unbalanced as some of the pro-Traore propaganda its is reacting to.

For sure some of the stuff is totally exagerated, and who ever runs his media team (they have linked to Russia news outlets in the past) is doing a fabulous job. But behind the noise, genuinly interesting things are happening in the seriously challenged nation of Burkina Faso. As you acknowledge Traore is a war leader. And when you begin to understand this, and that jihadists cannot be fought with guns alone, but also ideas, you may begin to understand why pan-African ideology and promises of development are so important to his government and so loudly repeated by pro-Traore platforms. Hearts and minds and all that.

Expand full comment
Olamide Olanrewaju's avatar

Be like say the imperialists don finally pay you 😏

Jokes aside, even if the PanAfricans are a bunch of clowns, they have one thing right - the international world is an adversarial one. It is still a positive if our people come to recognise that.

Expand full comment
CrumpledForeskin's avatar

You’ll be eating your words. There is a reason the US and France want him dead. You are a useful idiot to the imperialists. Propagandist!

Expand full comment
Josie Elewa's avatar

All this English no too much?

Expand full comment
Daniel's avatar

You underestimate the U.S. If they wanted him dead, he would be dead and there is nothing anyone in Africa would be able to do about it. They have taken down bigger and more protected heads of state than him. You go study Saddam Hussein, he was very protected but the USA had him hiding in holes. They don't need to use his guards, they will come for him themselves. Right now, they are waiting for people to hate his guts so that they can come in with their 'mission of democracy'

Expand full comment
Josie Elewa's avatar

Even more English

Expand full comment
CrumpledForeskin's avatar

Yes, they are spreading lies about him, but with the protests around the world, it doesn’t seem that people are hating his guts. I don’t understand why there is so much disdain and contempt for him? Please fill me in on what I’m missing. This article only seemed to be blaming him for the failures of past leaders. I’m willing to listen to what you have to say about why you don’t trust him. I haven’t heard of him doing anything that’s not been in the interest of his people.

Expand full comment
Daniel's avatar

I believe what you are missing is that what they are saying he has done is more or less propaganda. Most of his videos online with him speaking English and talking about what they are doing are AI generated.

I don't know about much, but history has shown over and over, that military rulers who come by coups end up as despots.

Expand full comment
CrumpledForeskin's avatar

They waged war on Saddam and killed one million Iraqis in the process. They killed Gaddafi, which would be a more apt comparison. If they kill Traore, there will be more outrage than ever before. The truth isn’t a secret anymore. The Western Empire has been exposed more than ever. You should have his back, he’s someone that’s helping his people. It’s an uphill battle to have to fight the NATO funded jihadists in his own country. I pray for his survival, and him being an integral part in defeating the imperialist forces and western hegemony.

Expand full comment
Robert marek's avatar

Bahaha!!! Trump won’t attack a fellow tyrant.

Expand full comment
CrumpledForeskin's avatar

You’re a Zionist troll, who only spouts propaganda!

Expand full comment
Boluwatife Olu Afolabi's avatar

This is a beautiful article.

The only correction to this is that Traore himself isn't funding the PR drive, Putin is.

After losing a significant foothold in Syria, Putin believes figures like Traore hold the key to reigniting 80s-type Soviet sentiments in Africa again.

Expand full comment
SeuBongo's avatar

Anyone has a explaination why Traoré get much more praise than Goïta and the other neighboring coup-presidents ?

Expand full comment
Malik Djinadou's avatar

Great article! A lot of people have to read this. Unfortunately, due to social media, people lack critical thinking.

I also wonder: do Russians have a hand in this? Spreading this propaganda?

Expand full comment
Mac Nzombola's avatar

I am glad to read someone speak my own disbelief when I see the inane Traore propaganda on WhatsApp groups. And like someone said elsewhere here, the propaganda must be Russian -- it is so contemptuous of Africans' intelligence.

On Robert Mugabe though, unlike Traore, he was actually a highly educated man -- educated by Jesuits and at the University of Fort Hare like Nelson Mandela, Robert Sobukwe, Oliver Tambo. These are all great men by general consensus; they all fought for and won independence for South Africa, Mugabe for Zimbabwe. He was elected too in earlier elections before he developed despotic tendencies.

Zimbabwe, up until the time of the land grabs, was a fairly prosperous educated country with a thriving publishing industry and book fairs. But land is complex problem wherever it is an issue.

I would also check on the price of Gold, in ounces first, unless you are quoting prices from a propaganda piece.

Expand full comment
Daniel's avatar

I think people should read the hunger games. Very good book.

That's what we playing on Africa.

Expand full comment
Obi Ekele's avatar

THANK YOU! so tired of this saviour mentality our people really do not learn anything from our history it's so so sad

Expand full comment
Stevie G's avatar

I dont understand the article on this my be beacuse i dont have enough knowledge on African and its politics

Expand full comment