Escalating conflicts in Burkina Faso

In October 2014, a popular uprising in Burkina Faso precipitated a military coup against twenty-seven-year incumbent Blaise Compaoré. After a fourteen-month transition, a failed coup in September 2015, and a presidential election the following month, President Roch Kaboré took office in December 2015. The euphoria of the Burkinabè revolution, however, has largely faded: in June 2019, a national opinion poll showed that out of approximately 3,000 respondents, nearly two-thirds expressed a desire for Compaoré’s return. The same respondents voiced sweeping dissatisfaction with his successors’ performance on virtually every major issue facing the country, ranging from the reform of health services to the management of the mining sector. In the Burkinabè press, commentators regularly voice a sense that the country is adrift, lacking an identity or a vision for the future – a sentiment shared by many of the journalists and civil society members interviewed for this report. Despite current and projected macro-economic growth of 6% per year, the Burkinabè population is frustrated…