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Narratives about the achievement of Burkina Faso’s military leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, have inundated social media platforms across Africa in the last few months.
From building free housing projects for citizens to offering free basic education, Ibrahim Troaré has been credited with transforming Burkina Faso across many sectors. These alleged transformations have become the focus of many social media influencers and media commentators, who have trumpeted them as evidence of the military junta’s success.
But are all these narratives true?
In this report, Fact-Check Ghana has verified some of the trending reports across social and traditional media about the achievements and successes of the Burkinabe junta.
Has Captain Ibrahim Traore built a Central Bank for Burkina Faso?
(Source of claim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL8tQ0IBx4k)
Verdict: False
Explanation: Burkina Faso, together with seven other Francophone and Lusophone West African States, including Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Mali, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, form part of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO). Headquartered in Dakar, Senegal, BCEAO centralises the cash reserves of the member states, while issuing currency (CFA)and managing monetary policy among other roles.
Burkina Faso has been a member of the BCEAO since its inauguration in 1962, when the country used to be called Upper Volta. Thus, claims that Captain Ibrahim Traoré has built a Central Bank for Burkina Faso are false.
What Captain Traoré has built is a Treasury Deposit Bank. Opened on Friday, August 2, 2024, the bank, like any treasury deposit platform, will allow citizens to deposit money for an agreed period of time with a fixed interest rate.
The treasury deposit bank is an investment platform that would allow Burkina Faso to borrow from its citizens while the citizens, in turn, benefit from the interest on their deposits.
Is Ibrahim Traore building a free housing project for Burkinabes?
Verdict: Misleading
Explanation: Claims of the Burkinabe leader building a free housing project for citizens emerged in early May. Accompanying the claims were photos of a colourful housing facility, which many claimed was the project Captain Traore had built. However, a report by Fact-check Ghana revealed that the photos were not related to Burkina Faso. They were images taken from the National Agency for the Improvement and Development of Housing (AADL) project in Algiers, Algeria.
On whether Captain Traore has started a free housing project or not, Fact-Check Ghana has learned from available information online and interviews with journalists that the military leader has started a building project, which is expected to bring transformation in Burkina Faso.
In October 2024, Burkina Faso’s minister in charge of Construction, Mikailou Sidibé, laid the foundation stone of the housing project, which is called the “Burkindi Business Centre”; a real estate complex which is reported to be worth more than 320 billion FCFA. The project is said to consist of the Burkindi Tower, a 35-story building, 14 buildings of 15 levels and a 3-story shopping centre.
According to the reports, the building is a public-private partnership deal between the Burkinabe government and Kastor Africa Group. The project is the only major housing project the government is working on and is expected to be completed in four years.
Also, there’s no evidence to support the claim that the new building project the Burkinabe government is raising is going to be free for citizens. Given that it is a public-private partnership, access to accommodation in the building project may come at a fee and not be free.
Is Ibrahim Troare paying salaries of 10,000 CFA to university students until they get jobs?
Verdict: False
Explanation: The Burkinabe government run a special scholarship scheme for students entering university for the 2024/2025 academic year. The grant was only open from March 11 and closed on March 25, 2024.
After the special scholarship scheme, the government is not offering any other grants, nor is it paying “salaries” to students. What exists in the country is a loan scheme for students (FONER), which has been running since 1994. Students who take the loans will be liable to pay back after some time.
Faso Check, a member of the International Fact-checking Network based in Burkina Faso, confirmed the claim that Ibrahim Traore’s government is paying 10,000 CFA to university students is false (See here).
Is Burkina Faso offering free education for basic schools after Ibrahim Traore came into power?
Source of claim: Here, here, here
Verdict: False
Explanation: Fact-check Ghana’s verification, including interviews with journalists, civil society actors and citizens, has proven that neither President Traore nor his education minister has made any announcement about making education free. Parents are paying for basic education in Burkina Faso, contrary to the viral claims of free education.
Has Ibrahim Troare introduced mechanics and programming, and robotics at basic schools for Burkinabe children?
Verdict: False
Explanation: The claim that Ibrahim Traore has ditched the drawing of cats, dogs, horses and grasshoppers at the formation level and replaced it with programming, robotics, went viral in late April and early May. Photos of kids coding accompanied the viral claim.
Fact-Check Ghana checks revealed that the claim that basic schools in Burkina Faso are learning programming and robotics instead of drawing is false. The Burkinabe Junta has not introduced a programming or robotics course in the curriculum of the basic schools.
The checks also revealed that the photos that accompanied the viral claim were from P School, a private programming school based in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. According to its website, the school teaches children computer coding, electromechanics and robotics, among others. The viral pictures were taken from the P School’s Facebook page and attached to the disinformation narratives.
Is Burkina Faso offering free maternal health care after Ibrahim Traoré came into power?
Source of claim: Here, here, and here
Verdict: Misleading
Explanation: Burkina Faso indeed provides free health care for pregnant women and children under five (5). However, the social intervention policy did not start after Ibrahim Traore came into power.
The policy started in 2016 (See here). Captain Ibrahim Traore took over power in 2022.
Are there moving health care/hospital vans moving around in communities in Burkina Faso after Ibrahim Traore came into power?
Source of claim: Here
Verdict: True
Explanation: On July 25, 2024, Captain Ibrahim Traore handed over to the Ministry of Health fifteen (15) mobile clinics, cold chain equipment, office equipment, and rolling logistics. The equipment, according to the presidency website, was to “be deployed to villages, rural areas, and certain outlying areas of cities to allow populations to have ultrasounds, undergo cervical and breast cancer screenings, and provide care for children.”
Fact-Check Ghana’s check indicates it is the first time the government is rolling out such a health intervention programme. This is consistent with the claim on the Burkina Faso presidency website, which states that the moving hospital van is a “first major experiment”.
Has North Korea deployed elite commandos to protect Ibrahim Troare against a Coup d’état?
Verdict: False
Explanation: Information about North Korea deploying soldiers to support Ibrahim Troare is a typical international news story that would easily make the headlines across many platforms. However, Fact-Check Ghana’s check across the search engines and digital platforms found no evidence. No local or international media outlet has carried a story about the claim.
Also, journalists based in Burkina Faso denied hearing or seeing any such report when Fact-check Ghana spoke with them.
Has Ibrahim Traore slashed the salaries of ministers and increased the salaries of civil servants?
Verdict: Partly true
Explanation: Before Captain Ibrahim Traore came into power in September 2022, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, the then leader of the military junta, had increased the salaries of ministers of state and heads of institutions in an adopted decree.
About three months after taking over, Captain Ibrahim Traore in December 2022 repealed the salary-increasing decree. This meant that the salaries of the ministers of state were reverted to their original levels.
According to Michel Paré, Director of Sales at the Burkinabe Ministry of Economy, who spoke with Faso Check, the salary drop was more than 50%.
However, the team did not find any evidence to support the claim that the salaries of civil servants had been increased. Thus, there have not been any new decrees either increasing or decreasing the existing salary levels of civil servants.
Has Ibrahim Traore’s government started offering free laptops to citizens?
Source of claim: here
Verdict: Misleading
Explanation: The Burkinabe government started the “One Student, One Laptop” programme in May 2020. The first beneficiary of the programme took delivery of the gadgets on Thursday, May 28, 2022 (See here). Ibrahim Troare came into power in September 2022, after about four months since the programme started. The programme is not entirely free. The government subsidises the cost by 60%, allowing students to pay the remaining 40%.
Reports suggest that Captain Traore’s government has commenced efforts to continue with the programme, having made an open call for vendors to apply to supply laptops. According, L’observateur Paalga, the government published the results of the call for the expression of interest to supply laptops under the “One Student, One Laptop”.
Thus, while Captain Traore is continuing with the “One Student, One Laptop” programme, it is misleading for social media reports to suggest that he started it.
