April 30, (THEWILL) – Captain Ibrahim Traoré, President of Burkina Faso, is not just an African soldier—he is a Pan-Africanist, a revolutionary icon, and a champion of African liberation struggles. His pro-people, Africa-centered policies have earned him admiration across the continent. Yet, like many before him, he now faces threats of elimination from bloodthirsty imperialists using familiar tactics: interfering in African governance under the guise of rescuing the people from misrule.
Recently, U.S. General Michael Langley of AFRICOM appeared before the U.S. Senate, accusing Traoré of hoarding his nation’s gold for personal enrichment. This accusation smacks of propaganda, painting the general as an agent of destruction, furthering the West’s longstanding agenda to loot Africa’s mineral wealth.
Conspicuously absent from Langley’s remarks were mentions of Traoré’s transformative policies—free education from primary to tertiary levels, a nationwide housing initiative, and universal healthcare. By ignoring these milestones, the general trivializes Africa’s struggle against the farce of Western-imposed democracy that often serves external interests rather than local development.
Fortunately, both Burkinabes and other Africans are no longer silent. They are warning Western powers to stop exploiting and degrading the continent, as they have done for centuries. Traoré—dubbed by many as *”The Conscience of African Libertinism”* and arguably one of Africa’s most progressive leaders today—will not cower before bullets from Washington or Paris.
The goal of this imperialist smear campaign is simple: derail Traoré’s developmental vision for Burkina Faso and his pan-African ideals aimed at freeing the continent from the shackles of neo-colonialism and imperialism—what many describe as the final phase of colonial oppression.
Africans and their allies globally see through these ploys. Western media platforms have become tools for vilifying Traoré in the eyes of the international community. But the tide is turning. Africans are no longer deceived by these familiar tactics—especially in the twilight of the 21st century, when the West continues to cling to its nihilistic tendencies instead of learning from its blood-soaked history on African soil.
This imperialist script is old. Dr. Patrice Lumumba, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s first Prime Minister, was assassinated in 1961, with CIA involvement widely alleged. Togo’s first President, Sylvanus Olympio, was killed in 1963 after rejecting the CFA franc, with both U.S. and French complicity suspected. Guinea-Bissau’s Amílcar Cabral was assassinated in 1973, while Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi was brutally murdered in 2011, his dream of African unity cut short by Western intervention. The tragic ending of Félix Moumié of Cameroon, poisoned in 1960 by a French agent, and Ruben Um Nyobè, killed in 1958 by French-led counter-insurgency forces, are further reminders of this pattern.
Likewise, Mehdi Ben Barka of Morocco, a prominent socialist and opponent of King Hassan II, disappeared in Paris in 1965, allegedly kidnapped, tortured, and killed by Moroccan intelligence with French and Israeli collusion. Pierre Mulele of DR Congo suffered a brutal fate in 1968, when the Mobutu regime—with Western backing—executed him in gruesome fashion. Eduardo Mondlane of Mozambique, a liberation leader, was assassinated in 1969 by a parcel bomb in Dar es Salaam, likely planted by Portuguese secret police or rivals within FRELIMO.
These names are more than history—they are warnings.
General Langley’s statement mirrors the same colonial arrogance that defined America’s foreign policy under President Barack Obama, whose administration oversaw the destruction of Libya. Like Obama, Langley appears to be following orders from the U.S. military-industrial complex, which builds weapons not for deterrence, but for destruction—often on African soil, as seen in Libya and potentially again in Burkina Faso.
AFRICOM, under any name or disguise, has no business in Africa—except to serve America’s deluded role as a global policeman and self-anointed guardian of democracy. Its presence is not about African stability, but about safeguarding Western interests at the expense of African lives and sovereignty.
Ikhide Erasmus contributed this piece via: ikhideluckyerasmus@gmail.com.
Erasmus Ikhide
