“They Only Spend Their Time Lying”: Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traoré Accuses Western Media of Manipulation

Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traoré has stated that the Western media and their portrayal of Africa are manipulative. In an interview with RT en français, he accused them of spreading disinformation and manipulating public opinion, particularly among African youth.

Speaking with journalist Igor Kourachenko, Traoré addressed what he described as a systematic campaign by Western powers to distort historical narratives and undermine Africa’s sovereignty.

Western media spend their time lying, Traoré stated, emphasising that their constant focus on Burkina Faso and the Sahel region reflects an inability to accept the emergence of alternative models of governance and cooperation, notably with Russia.

Traoré pointed out that Western narratives aim to sow division and confusion among young Africans. However, he believes this strategy is increasingly ineffective.

I think people are quite aware. People have their eyes open, and you are all victims of these people. The communication, what they do, what they say about Russia and everything, we know it,  he said in French, stressing that the population is no longer easily deceived by foreign media campaigns.

The president cited historical examples to illustrate how communication has been used as a manipulation tool. He referred to the shifting narrative around World War II.

Today, still today, there are some, there are young Africans who still have their eyes closed, who believe their lies, the narrative of the Second World War. But I was listening the other day, someone was saying that at the end of the war, in the 10 years that followed. If you asked in Europe who won the war, people would say it was Russia. But today, if you ask in Europe who won the war, they will say “It’s the Westerners.” Through communication, they managed to overturn history, and African history too.

Traoré also condemned France’s colonial legacy, recalling how African soldiers were exploited and sacrificed during global conflicts.

They ma nipulated everything to spread lies. This means that young Africans, some don’t even know the history of Africa. What did Africa do? Some don’t even know that our grandparents fought, were put on the front line as cannon fodder. And upon their return, they were killed like animals, he said.

He called for a renewed effort to educate African youth about their true history, warning that ignorance continues to make them vulnerable to imperialist narratives.

Do people know that when France was experimenting with its first atomic bomb, they placed black soldiers nearby in the lethal radius to see the effect? Let’s get the archives out, everything they used against Africa, it’s terrible.

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