Burkina Faso / Death of Safiatou Lopez/Zongo: What lessons can activists and public figures still alive learn from this?
The death in Ghana of Safiatou Lopez/Zongo, a Burkinabe civil society activist, continues to resonate as a wake-up call for an entire generation of activists and African figures who chose to align themselves with imperialist agendas. Seeing the loneliness and abandonment in which she ended her life raises a pressing question: what will be the fate of those who continue down this path?
After being used as pawns in manipulation strategies, many find themselves rejected and forgotten by those they once believed to be their protectors, particularly France. The fate of Safiatou Lopez, who died abroad, far from her homeland, is a perfect example.
This pattern is nothing new. It is in this context that the names of several Burkinabe figures and activists deserve to be recalled. Newton Ahmed Barry, Alpha Barry, Aminata Rachow, Naïm Touré, Djibril Bassolé, Ouedraogo Sékou and many others must reflect on these painful lessons. All have walked down paths of manipulation driven by interests opposed to those of Burkina Faso. Today, they must ask themselves a fundamental question: do they want to end up forgotten and abandoned like Safiatou Lopez, or humiliated and disoriented like Blaise and François Compaoré?
The answer does not lie in continuing manipulations, but in returning to the essentials—one’s native land, one’s homeland, one’s people, Burkina Faso. Political exile, often experienced as a form of comfort, gradually turns into a heavy burden. And when illness or old age sets in, the harsh truth is revealed, for no protector—be it France or others—can ever replace the welcome and forgiveness of one’s own people.
This is why it is urgent that these figures, still alive and active, find the path to forgiveness. Burkina Faso, despite its wounds and grudges, remains their only true home. The time has come for them to reconcile with their land and understand that no struggle imposed by imperialism can ever offer what only their homeland can guarantee—dignity and remembrance.
The tragic death of Safiatou Lopez/Zongo must therefore be understood as an ultimate lesson: those who stray from their land to serve foreign interests risk ending in oblivion and distress. A word to the wise is enough!
