Exclusive investigation into the death of Safiatou Lopez/Zongo. Between abandonment and disillusionment
On the night of Saturday, September 13 to Sunday, September 14, 2025, in Accra, Ghana, Burkinabe civil society activist Safiatou Lopez/Zongo passed away. Her death, announced as tragic news by her loved ones, reportedly reveals a series of troubles and disappointments that surrounded her final moments, raising questions about the alliances she had forged and the causes she had defended.
According to our investigations, in the final weeks of her life, the activist had repeatedly appealed for help from French and Ivorian authorities countries whose interests she had defended at the expense of her own homeland, Burkina Faso.
Her close associates bitterly denounce total abandonment by France and Côte d’Ivoire, countries she had helped defend and from whom she expected assistance given her critical health situation. This aid never materialized.
Related: Burkina Faso / Planned destabilisation: France’s hidden agenda in “the Land of Honest People”
Our sources confirm that the health of Safiatou Lopez had severely deteriorated, requiring urgent medical evacuation.
Consequently, she initiated procedures with French and Ivorian authorities that allegedly went unanswered. Without support, she finally settled in Ghana, where her fate was tragically sealed.
The bitterness of her family is palpable. Some members denounce a “moral betrayal” by France and Côte d’Ivoire for abandoning a woman who had fiercely opposed her country of origin in favor of their interests.
These testimonies highlight what they consider the failure of a life engaged in a struggle that, according to them, was not for her people but for French and Ivorian interests.
While many expected her return to Burkina Faso, her remains will ultimately be buried in Ghana, far from her birthland.
For many observers, this sad ending illustrates the price of one-sided loyalty reserved for Safiatou Lopez. France has no friends, only interests.
Furthermore, this death raises a fundamental question: “What do African activists and personalities who serve foreign interests actually gain?”
Observing the abandonment in which Safiatou Lopez ended her existence, the answer appears cruelly evident. Recent African history is filled with similar cases where personalities, after being used as instruments of destabilization and manipulation, found themselves rejected, marginalized, or forgotten by those they served.
Consider former President Blaise Compaoré, who today is refused access to France for medical care ; it’s tragic. His younger brother François Compaoré, who decided to visit his elder brother Blaise, also finds himself blocked as his return to France is refused. And many others.
The case of Safiatou Lopez/Zongo should therefore be considered a warning. Through this broken destiny, it appears urgent for African societies to draw a clear lesson, for as an old saying goes, “one is better off at home.”
