OUAGADOUGOU — Captain Ibrahim Traoré, President of Burkina Faso, voiced strong criticism against Western media, accusing them of spreading falsehoods, particularly regarding the former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, who was ousted in 2011 with the aid of the French military.
According to Burkina Information Agency, 2024, he denounced the Western media for their portrayal of Gbagbo, suggesting that such coverage significantly influenced public perception and political outcomes. “Most (Western media) are lying media. They spent the time lying, manipulating… Who didn’t hate Gbagbo because of the Western media? In any case, this is the case for our generation. They lied about him so much, they talked nonsense, they put pressure on him with information that you end up hating the person,” Traoré explained.
Gbagbo was taken into custody in April 2011 during an operation supported by French soldiers and the New Forces, a rebel group, despite being declared the winner by the Ivorian Constitutional Council. He was later brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC) but was eventually found not guilty.
Further, Captain Traoré detailed a supposed disinformation campaign, which he claims Western media, politicians, and activists propagated to mislead people into believing a mutiny was occurring within the Burkinabè army, allegedly causing him to flee the country.
In his discourse, Traoré urged the youth of Burkina Faso and Africa at large to disengage from these media outlets, naming RFI, France 24, Le Monde, and Jeune Afrique specifically, criticizing their lack of independence. “They are not actually free. They don’t live off advertising or anything. It’s false, it’s people who pay them,” he asserted.