Russia-Africa Summit: Ibrahim Traoré said “African heads of state must stop behaving like puppets that dance every time the imperialists pull the strings”

Present at the second Russia-Africa summit held in Saint Petersburg, the Head of State of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traoré, delivered a speech on Friday, July 28, denouncing neocolonialism and various machinations against his country. What can be remembered from Ibrahim Traoré’s speech?

At the beginning of his speech, Captain Ibrahim Traoré acted as a spokesperson for the new African generation concerned about Africa’s position compared to other continents.

«The questions that my generation asks, to sum up, are not understanding how Africa, with so much wealth on its soil, abundant nature, water, and abundant sunlight, is today the poorest continent? Why is Africa a hungry continent? And how is it that our heads of state travel the world to beg? » questioned the Head of State before asserting that he sees the summit as an «opportunity to build new relationships to give a better future to our people».

Regarding the security instability that has shaken Burkina Faso since 2015, Ibrahim Traoré denounces this «the most barbaric, violent form of neocolonialism, imperialism» which he describes as «slavery that is being imposed on us».

The young Captain did not fail to mention the issue of the Volunteers for the for the Defense of the Homeland (VDP), who have fiercely joined the Burkinabè people to defeat the terrorist threat and revive the country’s development.

However, these volunteers are vilified by imperialists and other African heads of state who are puppets of the West.

«When we, the people, decide to defend ourselves, we are called militias. But that is not the problem. The problem is seeing African heads of state who contribute nothing to these fighting people but sing the same tune as the imperialists, calling us militias, accusing us of not respecting human rights. (…) African heads of state must stop behaving like puppets that dance every time the imperialists pull the strings», President Traoré lambasted.

Ibrahim Traoré’s speech is concluded by a call on African presidents to work towards ensuring food self-sufficiency for their people.

Yannick H.