Burkina Faso: democracy in the face of terrorism

Burkina Faso has a lot to share with Côte d’Ivoire: a border nearly 600 km long, a railway line, working the land in cocoa, coffee and cola plantations, millions of “Binational”, a very keen sense of humor … But their respective presidential elections just three weeks apart have big differences even if the thing is heard here as in Abidjan: the outgoing has a good chance of keeping his chair , whether by the blow “KO”, or after having resisted during a second round to a united opposition. The big difference: Roch Marc Christian Kaboré will complete his first term and his candidacy does not pose any constitutional problem. Hence perhaps this impression of lethargy which reigns at the end of the Burkinabè campaign.

Strong impact of the security issue

In almost all heads of the country, in reality, only one concern: that of the security context, while fourteen Burkinabè soldiers fell again on November 11, victims of an ambush in the North, in Tin-Akoff, one of the attacks with the heaviest toll for the armed forces in recent years leading to a temporary suspension of the campaign and the postponement of meetings. “It was under the Roch government that the terrorist fire was ignited, it is therefore up to him to extinguish the embers today”, explains Solange, financial director of an international development institution, who will grant accordingly his outgoing vote. The political debates do not seem to ignite the crowds much, and in the small maquis of the districts of Koulouba or Gounghin, these days, more than the political news, we comment on the recent victory of the national team, the Stallions, against Malawi in the CAN qualifiers.

Cozy electoral atmosphere

Moreover, as in the past, the inhabitants do not display ostentatious signs of rallying to one or the other of the candidates: T-shirts, caps, whistles, etc. A law passed in 2015 under the transitional regime in fact prohibits the distribution of all these trinkets that usually color the pre-election period, to limit the purchase of votes in kind and ensure electoral fairness. To the chagrin of serigraphs… who regret the lost manna.

Of the October 2014 revolution, which ended in the departure of Blaise Compaoré after twenty-seven years in power, the only trace remains in the capital the remains of Azalaï Independence, the palace in the city center burned down by the protesters. The inauguration of the renovated hotel was scheduled for summer 2019. Alas, the work is still in progress, and from the tennis club courts of Ouagadougou which adjoin it, we can still see the scaffolding walls placed against the facades. concrete, and a few palm trees that grew between the piles of rubble.

Incursion to Nionghsin (“The founders” in the Morore language, reference to the ancestral activity of bronze casting of which the district is the cradle). At Idrissa Guira’s workshop, activity is slowing down. The Covid-19 epidemic has driven away the last foreign customers who run the store, and some men indiscriminately sand or skate pieces that will take years to find buyers.

In the heart of the countryside for Roch

Stuck on a wall, this poster: “Wendata movement, for the re-election of comrade Roch Marc Christian Kaboré”. I was told that he was born less than a kilometer from here, in the neighboring district of Dapoya. About fifty of them gathered under his banner to support “the neighborhood child”. “Wendata, that means: what God wants. We know that he wishes the victory of our candidate, ”explains Malick Guira, the youngest of the family, a talented sculptor who runs several introductory courses in the art of foundry every year in France. To support Roch in his campaign, “the women made corn flour dry cakes, we organized a blood drive at the health center,” he says. A bronze representation of the Kosyam presidential palace was given to a deputy of the presidential movement, the People’s Movement for Progress, to offer it to the president.

The city in the colors of the candidates

But the land is not the only source of the vote. Two guardians of a villa, one during the day, the other at night. The first will vote Roch. When we question the second: “No wonder, he’s a Mossi…! »Proof that the reflexes of ethnic or religious votes have not completely disappeared. When you walk along the long boulevard France-Afrique which connects the city center to the upscale district of Ouaga 2000, built at the end of the millennium to rethink the urban development of the capital, the usual advertising panels that mark it are now covered with posters in honor of the candidates.

Those of Roch are by far the most numerous, “Burkina on the move”, in orange hues, which are reminiscent (“EM”) of those of Emmanuel Macron in 2017. “For decent housing”, ” For a new social cohesion contract ”,“ For public services accessible to all ”, the usual litany of promises. Roch, thumbs up, in his faso dan fani fabric suit, this cotton fiber, one of the most refined in the world, thanks to him thanks to the nostalgics of Captain Thomas Sankara for having brought up to date, rather than the western costumes worn by Blaise Compaoré in his time. As for the posters of Zéphirin Diabré, the 2015 dolphin, they call out with their messianic side: “Together, let’s save Faso!” ”

Contrasting results marked by jihadist pressure

What results for Roch? Everyone will appreciate according to their convictions. Free maternal and infant care and the construction of 7,500 boreholes are to be credited to it. But it is difficult, however, to ignore the humanitarian crisis that Burkina Faso is going through, with more than a million internally displaced people, fleeing the jihadist threat. Moreover, this election can only be held on 85% of the national territory, more than 1,500 villages, out of 8,000 in total, could not be enrolled. Desertion of residents and officials, roads closed, impossibility of transporting electoral material: the ballot will be held without them.

A major challenge for the opposition

But the opposition seems too compromised or divided (thirteen candidacies validated by the Ceni) to be able to really challenge the renewal to power of the outgoing. Only the improbable proposal of “Zeph” to connect Burkina Faso to the ocean by the digging of canals to join between them the three principal rivers of the country (the Mouhoun, the Nazinon, the Nakambé, formerly the black Volta, red, and white) reacted. Crazy or brilliant, in any case, it divides!

Through this presidential election, and the single-member voting system that electrifies the country, the opposition is fatally confronted with its demons and its dreams. That said, a question really seems to concern the hearts of the Burkinabè: will their country be able to once again become that space of tolerance and peaceful cohabitation between all which had become its “trademark”? Either way, the challenge is great.