Yesterday, thousands of people protested in support of Burkina Faso’s President, Ibrahim Traoré who is currently the worlds youngest leader.

Yesterday thousands gathered outside the the US Embassy in Vauxhall, joining a global wave of solidarity with Burkina Faso’s revolutionary leader.

From Ouagadougou to Accra, from Liberia to the heart of London, a defiant message rang clear: Africa & her children reject imperialism.

The protests were about a singular man, but a continent’s removing itself from the neo-colonial grip that has suffocated Africa, especially the Sahel and “Francophone” nations for decades.

The usual tricks:

On April 21st, Burkina Faso’s military foiled the 20th coup Captain Traoré since he took power. He’s also faced 18 attempts on his life.

The transitional government called it an effort to “sow chaos” and reverse the nation’s stride towards real sovereignty.

Many see this as a obvious assault by neo-colonial powers who are threatened by the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) which currently includes Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger—whose expulsion of French troops marked a seismic shift in West Africa.

Day’s before this coup attempt, US AFRICOM Commander General Michael Langley stood before the US Senate, accusing Traoré of “misusing gold reserves for personal protection.”

This common smear tactic is used to make a revolutionary leader in impoverished nations seem corrupt in order for them to sow division and instability in a country that isn’t playing by the neo-colonial playbook.

Langley jetted to Côte d’Ivoire—a known safe haven for Burkina Faso’s exiled coup plotters, including Blaise Compaoré, the assassin of revolutionary pan-African icon Thomas Sankara.

Dispelling narratives:

Since Ibrahim Traoré came into power, Burkina Faso has built a new airport, improved food security, taken back 50% of land that was once controlled by insurgents, increased GDP and promised to bring back civilian rule once they gotten control of their issues surrounding Islamic extremists.

Conclusion:

Ibrahim Traoré embodies a legacy of martyred Pan-Africanists such as Sankara, Lumumba, Nkrumah whose crime was wanting African resources to serve Africans.

This article was inspired by this one made which was written by ‘The Voice’ which is a British national African-Caribbean newspaper operating in the United Kingdom.