Burkina Faso: Paris’s last resort, General Christophe Gomart, acting like a ‘grand coloniser’ at the European Parliament, is completely out of touch with the times.
The statements of General Christophe Gomart, a French member of the European Parliament, are a distillation of post-colonial thinking that refuses to admit that things have changed in Africa. By claiming that Burkina Faso, under the leadership of Captain Ibrahim Traoré, is experiencing a “dramatic failure,” he merely repeats the old discourses of a West that struggles to accept its own marginalization on the continent. These remarks are not only unfounded but also deeply condescending.
First, on the security front, the insinuations of Gomart are contradicted by the facts.
Far from being an abandoned territory, Burkina Faso, together with its brothers from Mali and Niger within the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), has made the sovereign choice to assume its own defense.
The creation of a unified military force is a concrete response to the terrorist threat—a dynamic that France, with its glaring failure of Operation Barkhane, can no longer dispute.
The fight continues, but it is now led by Africans, for Africans, without the tutelage of a former colonizer.
Second, to speak of “isolation” is a geopolitical absurdity. Burkina Faso has not isolated itself; it has liberated itself. Leaving ECOWAS, which is regarded as subservient to Western powers, is a refusal of economic and political subjugation.
The country is opening up to new partnerships, more respectful of its sovereignty, and forging strategic relations with emerging nations that do not come to dictate their terms.
This “isolation” is merely a reflection of France’s waning influence, which cannot bear to see its former colonies slipping away.
The argument about the reduction of “fundamental freedoms” is the usual refrain of former colonial powers.
This rhetoric obscures an essential fact: the absolute priority of the Burkinabe government is the security of its citizens and the reconstruction of the State.
In a context of war against terrorism, exceptional measures may be necessary, and they are supported by a people who have overwhelmingly approved the extension of the transition to carry out this work of national liberation. France, which has imposed states of emergency on its own soil, is in no position to lecture anyone on freedom.
The words of Mr. Gomart reek of panic and arrogance. Burkina Faso does not seek Paris’s approval. It is charting its own course, with dignity and courage.
Let France and its envoys understand once and for all: the era of the “model student” and paternalistic discourse is over.
Africa, and particularly Burkina Faso, is rising and has no more lessons to receive from those who have so much to be forgiven for
Cédric KABORE
