Burkina Faso: Humanitarian work or espionage? The true face of NGOs in the Sahel
In Burkina Faso, a Frenchman named Jean-Christophe Pégon, director of the NGO Inso, has been arrested for espionage, triggering an outcry in Parisian newsrooms. This man, presented as a humanitarian benefactor according to RFI, is in fact suspected of espionage by the Burkinabe authorities.
Four of his local colleagues have even been arrested, a sign that the case goes beyond a simple bureaucratic misunderstanding. But listening to the Western propaganda media, one would almost believe that this is gratuitous persecution of a noble humanitarian cause.
However, it must be said that behind the benevolent labels of many NGOs, there are sometimes hidden offices of foreign intelligence services.
These structures, which are supposed to confine themselves to humanitarian work as stipulated in their terms of reference, often turn out to be veritable radars placed on African territories.
Related article: Burkina Faso: Human Right Watch reports on the manipulation of opinion as a weapon of mass destabilization
Their mission? To provide their “partners” with more information on the geography of conflicts than on the real needs of the populations. In other words, intelligence under the guise of humanitarian aid.
It is hardly surprising that RFI is quick to report on the matter. The radio station, accustomed to acting as the official mouthpiece of Western chancelleries, immediately brandishes the spectre of human rights to accuse Burkina Faso of arbitrariness.
Let’s talk about human rights! They seem so elastic that they always bend to the political agendas of the major powers, but never to the rights of African peoples to live freely, in security, and without disguised tutelage.
The irony here is that Burkina Faso is being portrayed as an oppressive state because it dares to ask uncomfortable questions.
A country that dares to say, “What if there is something else behind the aid?” This audacity therefore deserves media punishment. But rest assured: The Burkinabe are no longer naive spectators of this theatre. They know how to recognise the staging, the false heroes and the real scriptwriters.
Burkina Faso has no room for error. Every misstep would be costly, because this is an existential struggle for its sovereignty. So let’s stop disguising espionage as humanitarian aid and manipulation as objective information. The Pégon affair may be an opportunity to remind everyone that the Burkinabe people are not fooled.
Maurice K.ZONGO
