The gap between official accounts and lived experience
When Ibrahim Traoré sat down for an interview on 27 September 2026 to present the balance sheet of his four years in power, what emerged was above all the government’s own reading of its record. Military operations, territories described as recaptured, equipment purchases, investments and economic initiatives: the authorities clearly possess ample material with which to defend their performance.
Yet a national assessment cannot be authored solely by those who govern. It must also be measured against the reality experienced by the population.
Displacement: the question that will not go away
The first issue remains security: four years after Ibrahim Traoré came to power, how many Burkinabè can genuinely live in their own homes without fear?
Burkina Faso continues to face a displacement crisis of enormous scale. Data from the UN refugee agency recorded 2,062,534 internally displaced persons at the end of 2025 more than two million Burkinabè forced to leave their homes while remaining inside the country. When refugees and asylum-seekers are added, the number of forcibly displaced people exceeded 2.1 million.
And this crisis extends well beyond Burkina Faso’s borders.
In neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire, the UN refugee agency counted approximately 82,000 Burkinabè refugees as of June 2026, out of a total of 93,200 refugees and asylum-seekers hosted in the country.
I myself visited a camp sheltering Burkinabè refugees in northern Côte d’Ivoire. What I witnessed there left me close to tears. The sheer number of people, the displaced families, the children, the faces marked by exile and the accounts of those who had to abandon their homes left me speechless.
Faced with such a reality, one question becomes impossible to avoid: with all of this, can Ibrahim Traoré truly tell us that everything is fine in Burkina Faso?
Behind the figures lie families separated from their land, farmers unable to cultivate, children deprived of a normal education and communities compelled to rebuild their lives elsewhere.
This is why a so-called “recaptured” area cannot be considered permanently secure simply because the army has re-established a presence there. True recapture begins when residents can return for good, work their fields, send their children to school, access healthcare and live without the fear of a fresh attack.
A territory reclaimed on a map is not necessarily a territory that has become liveable again.
Is criticism of the authorities still permitted?
The second question concerns the space left open for dissent.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International documented in 2026 restrictions targeting journalists, civil society organisations and critical voices. HRW notably reported the dissolution of 118 civil society organisations and continues to seek answers regarding the fate of journalist Serge Oulon.
These allegations must be examined and documented on a case-by-case basis. But the principle remains straightforward: criticising a government does not mean being against one’s country.
National security should not become an automatic response to any contradiction. A journalist who asks tough questions, a citizen who challenges a decision or an organisation that documents a situation do not automatically become enemies of the nation.
The government is not the country.
The only record that truly counts belongs to the people
Ibrahim Traoré can highlight his achievements. His supporters can regard the military operations, investments and economic initiatives as significant strides forward. These elements must be assessed on the basis of verifiable facts.
But the assessment must also take into account the displaced, the refugees, the bereaved families, the abandoned villages and those still living in uncertainty.
After four years in power, the essential questions therefore remain the following:
How many Burkinabè can live in their own homes? How many can work their land? How many can send their children to school in safety? How many have been forced to seek refuge in neighbouring countries? And above all, how many can freely criticise those who govern them?
A genuine assessment should not fear these questions.
For when one is confronted with tens of thousands of Burkinabè who have had to seek refuge in Côte d’Ivoire and more than two million displaced inside the country, it is not enough to present figures, speeches and images of achievements to declare that all is well.
The true record is also measured in the lives of those who have lost everything.
A people is not liberated by being told to remain silent. It is liberated when it can live in safety, speak freely and hold those in power to account.
By Nicolas Biyong — Political and economic news
