BURKINA FASO'S ELDERS: 'WE SUPPORT OUR PRESIDENT'

Burkina Faso's Popular and Progressive Revolution is a movement of the youth. Its leader, President Ibrahim Traoré, at 36, is the world's youngest head of state. However, the struggle is also intergenerational, and senior citizens expressed their support for the revolutionary process as they marched on 26 April in the city of Bobo Dioulasso.

They held signs praising President Ibrahim Traoré, the Burkinabé military and the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland (VDP), a people's fighting force.

Burkina Faso ousted a Western-aligned leader in 2022 through a people-backed coup d'état, bringing Traoré to power.

On 6 July 2024, the country co-founded the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) with Mali and Niger, both of which booted Western-aligned leaders in similarly people-backed coups. Since then, the countries have expelled French troops and reclaimed natural resources from foreign corporations. They aim to establish a federal Pan-African state as the first step toward building continental unity. The three countries are the flag bearers of the Pan-African revolution underway on the continent.

Video credit: @rtburkina