Democracy Doesn’t Develop Any Country — Burkina Faso President

President of Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, says it is difficult to pinpoint any particular country that has developed practising the so-called democratic rule.

According to him, Burkina Faso is undergoing a “popular, progressive revolution” and not operating under a democratic system.

Speaking during a flag-raising ceremony at the Koulouba Palace last week, Captain Traore said; “If we have to say it loud and clear here, we are not in a democracy, we are in a popular, progressive revolution.”

Pointedly rejecting the notion that democracy is a prerequisite for development, the Burkinabe Leader said it is “false” to believe any country has developed under a democratic system.

“It is impossible to name a country that has developed in democracy. Democracy is only the result.

“We must necessarily go through a revolution, and we are indeed in a revolution. So this question of democracy or libertinism of action or expression has no place.

“As much as you think you are free to speak and act, the other is also free to speak and act, and there we end up with a society of disorder.”

The national television, Burkina24 also quoted him as maintaining that his government would continue to communicate, explain, and make people understand what revolution is.

Noted for taking decisive measures since emerging as the President of the West African country, the 37-year-old President, who assumed office in September 2022 through a coup de’tat that ousted interim President Paul-Henri Damiba, recently rejected Saudi Arabia’s offer to build 200 mosques in his country.

For him, the Islamic country should rather invest in essential infrastructure projects that would directly benefit the people of Burkina Faso