Tension is mounting after an attempted coup in Burkina Faso. According to officials, a plot to overthrow Capt Ibrahim Traoré has been successfully foiled.
On The BreakDown hosted by Sandra Babu-Boateng on PanaGenius TV, critical questions are being raised: who is truly behind the conspiracy?
Given the bold moves Capt Traoré has made since seizing power, speculation is swirling about who might have the strongest motives to remove him.
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Meanwhile, Burkina Faso’s army claims that the architects of the plot were operating from neighbouring Ivory Coast.
Security Minister Mahamadou Sana stated the coup attempt was orchestrated by a group of serving and former soldiers collaborating with “terrorist leaders.” Their aim, he explained, was to storm the presidential palace last week.
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The broader goal, Sana said in a recent address on state television, was to “sow total chaos, and place the country under the supervision of an international organisation.”
This is the latest in a series of reported plots to unseat Traoré, who rose to power in 2022 amid growing militant insurgencies.
Like other Sahel nations, Burkina Faso has been grappling with relentless jihadist violence, with militants now believed to control around 40% of the territory, according to a report.
Despite assurances from Capt Traoré’s government to tighten security and new alliances with Russia, the country continues to reel from persistent insurgent attacks.
In the latest coup plot, details of which only emerged recently, Sana revealed that conspirators sought to enlist religious and traditional leaders to persuade army officers to join their cause.
“The manoeuvre was to culminate, according to the terrorist plotters’ plan, on Wednesday 16 April, 2025 in an assault on the presidency of (Burkina) Faso by a group of soldiers recruited by the nation’s enemies,” he said.
“The brains outside the country are all located in Ivory Coast,” he added, singling out two former army officers suspected of masterminding the plan.
He further alleged that “sensitive information was passed on to ‘terrorists’ to increase attacks on the military and civilians and ‘incite a revolt against the authorities’.”
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Last week, security sources told AFP that several military personnel, including two officers, were arrested in connection with the destabilisation effort.
The Ivorian government has yet to respond to allegations that it harboured the plotters, although relations between Burkina Faso’s junta and Ivory Coast have been fraught, with repeated accusations of support for dissidents in exile.
This latest drama follows an earlier claim by Ouagadougou last November that it had foiled another destabilisation attempt.
Burkina Faso, together with fellow military-ruled states Mali and Niger, has since broken away from the West African bloc Ecowas, forging a new alliance.
All three nations have also cut ties with former colonial ruler France and pivoted toward a strategic partnership with Russia.
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