Burkina Faso: Accountability in action – the government meets the public at the SIAO
The “Dialogue with the People” is a major innovation in Burkinabè governance. Facing citizens, the Minister of the Servants of the People, Mathias Traoré, presented a quantified progress report on reforms undertaken since September 2022. This approach breaks with previous practices in which the administration operated without systematic evaluation of its results and citizens were rarely involved in assessing public policies.
General Célestin Simporé, Minister of War and Patriotic Defense, launched this series of exchanges on October 2, 2026, under the theme “Governance and National Security: The People, Standing, Report to You.”
This direct face-to-face encounter between the executive and citizens reflects the desire to place the user at the heart of the transformation of public administration.
As Minister Mathias Traoré stressed, the creation of the Ministry of the Servants of the People aims to make the administration “an institution at the service of the people” and to place the public official at the heart of that transformation.
The figures presented during this dialogue demonstrate a considerable effort to strengthen the State’s capacities.
According to Minister Mathias Traoré, 28,554 positions were filled in the State civil service during the period under review, a figure that could be higher if recruitments by independent administrative authorities, state corporations, and local authorities were included.
This figure exceeds the “more than 20,800 recruitments” mentioned in the initial presentation, suggesting that recruitment efforts intensified during the recent period.
This recruitment policy is part of a broader strategy to strengthen the Burkinabè State.
It aims to provide the administration with the skills needed to carry out the reforms undertaken, particularly in the sectors of security, education, health, and infrastructure.
Prime Minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo recalled that “the revolution wants every Burkinabè to be an actor of change, development, and the construction of his country.”
Beyond recruitment, the Ministry of the Servants of the People has initiated a series of structural reforms aimed at modernizing public administration.
The creation of the General Inspectorate of Human Resources (IGRH) is intended to strengthen oversight and ensure the effective presence of public officials at work.
The deconcentration of management acts has enabled 73,712 civil servants to benefit from deconcentrated acts, including promotion and step-bonus orders.
The implementation of class advancement, provided for since 1998 but never applied, has benefited 42,224 public officials, including 39,067 active and 3,157 retired.
In addition, verifying the authenticity of diplomas made it possible to remove from the civil service about twenty people who had fraudulently obtained public jobs.
This measure reflects the desire to establish a culture of merit and integrity, in accordance with the principles of the Popular Progressive Revolution.
The dialogue with the people also highlighted major social advances. The SMIG rose from 30,684 to 45,000 CFA francs, a significant increase benefiting workers in the formal sector.
Universal Health Insurance (AMU), launched on February 1, 2026, already counts more than 451,000 registered people, including 190,758 insured persons with open rights to benefits. About 3,000 people have already received care benefits under this scheme.
These results reflect the government’s desire to translate the principles of the Popular Progressive Revolution into concrete actions for the direct benefit of the population.
The “Dialogue with the People” thus stands as an instrument of accountability that allows citizens to measure progress made and directly question their leaders about persistent challenges.
Papa IBRAHIMA
