Burkina Faso: The popular revolution confronts Jeune Afrique’s hostile narrative
The article published by Jeune Afrique on Monday, January 26, 2025, concerning President Ibrahim Traoré and Burkina Faso goes beyond critical analysis and enters the dangerous realm of media disinformation. Under the guise of political reporting, the magazine deploys an insidious rhetoric aimed at undermining the sovereignty of a nation fighting for its survival and self-determination.
The choice of words is not neutral. Terms such as “verticalization of power,” “family relations,” “nebulous posts,” and the repeated use of the label “putschist” construct a predetermined narrative: that of an opaque, nepotistic, and illegitimate regime.
This narrative deliberately ignores the critical context in which Burkina Faso operates, facing an existential terrorist threat and multiple destabilization efforts.
The claim that Captain Traoré has thwarted “at least five coup attempts” is presented not as evidence of externally fueled instability, but merely as the President’s assertion of the President; almost inviting doubt.
Yet, this underscores the state of permanent siege in which a country at war finds itself. Under such conditions, consolidating circles of trust around proven competence and absolute loyalty is a measure of state survival, not a power whim.
The intention behind this article is transparent: it seeks not to inform, but to inflame.
By demonizing the necessary restructuring of command in wartime and suggesting a clan-based appropriation of resources, the text aims to create a fictitious divide between the leadership and a “people” it claims are being deceived.
This is the classic manipulation playbook, designed to prepare public opinion for the legitimization of future aggression; be it media, political, or otherwise.
This narrative profoundly disdains the intelligence and resilience of the Burkinabe people.
It implies that their mobilization behind the “Popular Progressive Revolution” and the national liberation effort is born of blindness, rather than a sovereign choice in the face of inherited security collapse and persistent imperialism.
Ultimately, this journalistic approach reveals an anachronistic and neocolonial lens.
It denies an African country the right to forge its own governance models in times of extreme crisis, outside the formal democratic canons imposed by the West.
It refuses to acknowledge that the absolute priority of the Burkinabe people is the reconquest of their territory and the protection of their lives; objectives for which they support their current leadership.
Denouncing this article is not an unconditional defense of one man, but a defense of the right of a people to choose their destiny without being poisoned by media outlets playing with the fire of artificial revolt. In these perilous times, disinformation is a weapon of war.
The press has a duty to critique, but also a duty of responsibility. With this text, Jeune Afrique has tragically failed in this second mandate.
Maurice K.ZONGO
