A few years ago, my late friend Ibrahiman Sakandé, former general director of the Burkinabe government newspaper Sidwaya and former director of communications for the Presidency of Faso, and I, signed together an editorial which appeared on the same day in Sidwaya and Fraternité Matin, the Ivorian government newspaper of which I was the general director. We recounted the long journey made by our two countries, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, which have always been linked, both by geography, by history, by politics, by populations. We wrote: “We laughed and cried together. We fought, hated, loved, shunned, but we always found each other. Here we are again, gathered together, holding hands, in newfound confidence, looking at the open horizon, looking for new furrows to dig”. We told how the brother of Emperor Sékou Ouattara who reigned in Kong, in present-day Ivory Coast, went to found his kingdom of Gouriko with Bobo-Dioulasso as its capital, in present-day Burkina Faso, how our two countries had been merged together in another period of history by the French colonist, before separating them again. And we concluded with these words: “Can there be a better example of integration than that which history has imposed on Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso and which the future demands of them”. At that time, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast were in perfect love. Political leaders from the two countries met regularly within the framework of the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation (TAC), organized joint councils of ministers and developed joint development projects.
And then there was the fall of President Blaise Compaoré, the arrival of the first soldier, who was in turn overthrown by another soldier, and everything changed between our two countries. In place of the confidence we thought we had regained, suspicion took hold. As in the time of Thomas Sankara and Houphouët-Boigny when names of birds were flying from both sides: “Knave of imperialism”. “Dictator with small feet”. Ivorian gendarmes pursuing gold miners, perhaps to racketeer them, inadvertently crossed the border and were arrested in Burkina Faso. A Burkinabé soldier and militiaman who in turn crossed the border were also arrested in Ivory Coast. The head of the Burkinabè junta said in an interview with Alain Foka that none of his neighbors helped him in his fight against terrorism. A Burkinabè radio reveals that Ivory Coast has provided 1,000 Kalashnikovs, 100,000 munitions, around fifty pick-ups worth 2.3 billion francs to Burkina Faso to help it in its fight. The Ivorian government has built thousands of modern housing units in northern Ivory Coast to accommodate the thousands of Burkinabè who are fleeing their country to find refuge and safety in Ivory Coast. Ivorian political parties were even offended that the State received these refugees with so much thoughtfulness. If these gestures of the Ivorian State are not gestures of solidarity and fraternity, the meaning of these words should be changed. And to say that you received no help from your neighbors can only be ingratitude. But when we lead an ideological fight, instead of leading that of development, when we believe that we are making a revolution, we do not bother with morality.
The most important thing is what the Burkinabé and Ivorian people feel. We know that our destinies are linked and that no political vicissitude can keep us away from each other for long. Two senior authorities from our two countries recently met. Let us hope that the situation calms down completely so that, with confidence restored again, we can clear the horizon together to hold hands again and resume our march at the same pace, plowing the furrows of our future.
By Venance Konan
*This article has been translated from French into English by Marcus Boni Teiga
