Burkina Faso's military president, Ibrahim Traoré, has told citizens to abandon hopes of democracy, declaring it "not for us" in a televised interview on Thursday. The 37-year-old leader, who seized power in a September 2022 coup, dismissed elections as irrelevant and reaffirmed his rule would extend until 2029, following a junta decision to delay any transition. "We're not even talking about elections, first of all … People need to forget about the question of democracy," Traoré said in the interview with state broadcaster Radiodiffusion Télévision du Burkina (RTB). He described democracy as "false," citing violence and destruction in democratic nations: "Democracy, we kill children. Democracy, we drop bombs, we kill women, we destroy hospitals, we kill civilian population. Is that democracy?" Political parties have been banned since January, and opposition activity has been systematically suppressed.
Traoré has cultivated support across parts of Africa by promoting anti-French and anti-Western sentiment, often invoking the legacy of former Marxist leader Thomas Sankara, who renamed the country from Upper Volta and ruled from 1983 until his 1987 assassination. Despite this rhetoric, the country continues to face a worsening security crisis. A jihadist insurgency active since 2014 has displaced 2.1 million people, according to the last official data from three years ago. Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Thursday that more than 1,800 civilians have been killed since 2023 by the military, allied militias, and al-Qaida-linked Jama'at Nusrat al‑Islam wa al‑Muslimin (JNIM). The group accused all parties of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including ethnic cleansing of Fulani civilians suspected of supporting jihadists. In April 2024, HRW alleged that Burkinabe forces executed 223 civilians in a single day two months prior. The government denied the claims and responded by banning HRW and several international media outlets, including the Guardian.
When Ibrahim Traoré says democracy "isn't for us," he isn't just rejecting elections—he is legitimizing indefinite military rule under the guise of cultural exceptionalism. His rhetoric weaponizes anti-colonial sentiment while ignoring that his own regime has presided over mass killings and ethnic violence. The HRW report detailing 1,800 civilian deaths since 2023 exposes the hollowness of his moral posturing. Governance cannot be justified by ideology alone when the cost is measured in mass graves and silenced critics.
