As much as a lot of people love the military junta of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traore, it’s sad to say that there are still a lot of people who are not happy with him and this is evident in the number of coup attempts against Ibrahim Traore since he came into power. Ibrahim Traore himself came into power through a coup in September 2022 which unseated Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. Now, according to Traore the reason he came into power was not because of power’s sake but because there was a need to change things, specifically the insecurity crisis in the country. Now, in less than two months after he took power from Damiba, Traore reporthe that he was the target of a coup attempt. This would be the first among other attempts on the youngest President in the world. According to Traore, some elements of the army wanted to seize power from him which would destabilize the country. He also added that he knew the perpetrators, but he preferred dialogue instead of arresting them. President Traore further stated that money was being distributed to influence certain elements to destabilize the government and asked those in the meeting not to fall for it. He also asked the citizens to support him, leading to thousands of people presenting themselves as Traore’s supporters to protest against the coup attempt.

After this incident, Ibrahim Traore went on to work in the country. He began to build and fortify the-security forces in Burkina Faso, distanced himself from the West most especially from Burkina Faso’s former colonial master, France, built diplomatic relations with non-Western countries, and generally proved himself as a unique African leader who is interested in the development of Burkina Faso. All this continued until September 2023 when the Second coup attempt occurred. According to the Burkina Faso military prosecutor, Investigators received a tipoff about “soldiers and former soldiers working in intelligence” who were scouting out the homes and other locations used by key figures in the junta, including strongman Captain Ibrahim Traore and their goal was to “destabilize… the transition”. Now, unlike the first coup attempt where Ibrahim Traore didn’t arrest anybody, this time, the investigations led to the arrest of three soldiers who were charged with involvement in a “military plot, breach of military orders, plotting against state security, criminal association, and endangerment”. The three were Warrant Officer Windinmalegde Kabore; Sergeant Brice Ismael Ramde; and former corporal Sami Dah, who had previously been convicted in a plot against the state in 2015. And, according to the prosecutor, they unequivocally admitted the facts.

Shortly after this news had died down, just at the end of the same month, the third coup attempt occurred. According to Traore, the coup attempt was thwarted following information from security and intelligence services. In a statement read out on national television on Wednesday, the authorities said the alleged perpetrators “had the sinister intention of attacking the institutions of the Republic and plunging the country into chaos”. The authorities also added that officers and other alleged participants in this destabilization attempt have been arrested and others are being actively sought. A day after the news was released, the military government revealed that they had arrested four persons allegedly involved while two were on the run.

Now, after this, lots of people began to speculate that France and the West were probably behind these coup attempts on Ibrahim Traore because since he came to power he has distanced himself from them and gone on to join a non-Western country regarded as an enemy of the West, Russia. Well, it’s very possible that the West, particularly France, is behind this because history has shown us that any African leader who decides not to dance to the tune of the West is usually assassinated. And, one thing we have observed is that most of the time the assassinations are not carried out by Western soldiers, instead the West finds a way to use Africans for the job. The case of Thomas Sankara is a good example.

Fortunately for Ibrahim Traore, unlike his predecessor, he has been surviving the coup attempts. After the third attempt in September, Ibrahim Traore carried out some replacements in the security forces because some of them were allegedly involved in the attempt. Soon after, Ibrahim Traore continued with his work as interim president of Burkina Faso. He strengthened his Defense force by collaborating with Russia, and other African countries including Mali and Niger and he even sent some of his security personnel for training in Rwanda. He also took some measures to strengthen the gold mining industry in Burkina Faso. In addition, one of the notable things he planned to do which took the world by surprise was the plan to form a confederation with Niger and Mali, two African countries ruled by military juntas. Overall, despite the multiple coup plots against Ibrahim Traore, he said and did some remarkable things in 2023.

Now, while some people may have thought that the coup plots against Traore ended in 2023, just a few days into the new year, the military government of Burkina Faso has once again announced another coup attempt on Ibrahim Traore. And this time, it was not just to unseat him from power but also to possibly assassinate him. In the statement released, the military was able to dismantle a network aimed at destabilizing” the country, foiling a new coup attempt with “an apocalyptic scenario”. According to the military junta spokesperson Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, the authorities in power have arrested several “military and civilians” involved in a coup attempt planned for January 14th. So, this means the coup was scheduled to take place on January 14th. Part of the network included “serving soldiers, retired soldiers, civilians, and activists”, who wish to “bring a sudden halt” to the current transition phase. The network allegedly sought to target citizens’ watch bodies to sway the people’s support for the ruling MPSR, headed by Ibrahim Traore.

Jean Emmanuel also added that to facilitate the coup plan, individuals had been contacted in various military barracks throughout the country to “organize a mutiny” while funding for the cause was being released and transferred from outside. In addition, according to the military authorities, the investigations carried out so far have made it possible to identify relationships between “a small group of people who believe they should play a greater role in the public and political decision-making process and are therefore plotting against our people and the institutions of our country. Now among those arrested was the former head of the national gendarmerie, Lieutenant Colonel Evrard Somda, together with three other soldiers, who were detained in the capital Ouagadougou. Recall that Lieutenant Colonel Evrard was replaced as the head of the armed police force because of suspicion of his involvement in a “plot against state security” in October 2023. Now, it remains to be seen whether or not the Lieutenant was truly involved in the third coup attempt as well as the fourth one.

All these coup attempts on Traore make one begin to wonder what is truly going on. More than any other military junta currently ruling, Traore has experienced the highest number of coup plots. Are these coups merely a result of some disgruntled soldiers who are not happy with Traore or are the coups simply orchestrated by foreign governments who seek to remove Traore from power and replace him with a puppet leader as they have done in the past? What is truly going on? Ibrahim Traore has proven himself as an exceptional leader and it would be such a shame to see him removed from power when he has not yet accomplished all that he intends to do. Fortunately, the coup plots against Traor have all ended in coup plots. They have not been successful. Hopefully, that’s all it would be

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