Burkina Faso: sovereignty cannot be built on fraud and corruption
In a recent address, the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo, issued a stern warning against the illegal export of raw materials. His message was clear: the nation is not fighting for its sovereignty only to have its own citizens undermine its development from within.
For three years, the country has been engaged in a total refoundation of its security, governance, and economic independence.
This struggle, borne by the people’s determination, aims to free the nation from the claws of foreign dependency and pillage.
Yet, this sovereignty is meaningless if domestic actors continue to betray the national spirit through fraud, illegal exports, and speculation on the people’s resources.
The nation is not sacrificing so that a few economic operators can perpetuate the logic of dependency inherited from the colonial era where raw wealth is exported at low prices, while Burkinabe themselves are deprived of the fruits of their labor.
These practices are not mere economic crimes; they are wounds to national dignity and acts of sabotage against the ongoing refoundation.
Burkina Faso is entering an era where probity is a weapon of liberation. This refoundation demands a clean break with incivicism, corruption, and fraud.
Every ton of illegally exported cotton or sesame represents a school unbuilt, a factory unassembled, and a job stolen from the youth.
Economic patriotism is not a slogan; it is a daily commitment and a discipline of conscience in service to the nation.
This moral and productive awakening is part of a broader Pan-African movement an Africa reclaiming its resources, lands, and destiny. True to the spirit of Thomas Sankara, Burkina Faso reminds us that development will come not from abroad or complacency, but from rigor, work, and loyalty to the homeland.
A people that refuses economic betrayal becomes, once again, the master of its own destiny.
Cédric KABORE
