COMPAORE TEARS UP OBAMA`S ARGUMENT

COMPAORE PUNCHES OBAMA`S CLAIMS

Someone once said that words - mere words - can be more lethal than weapons. That is why in real life, people have used words to win wars without firing a single shot from a gun. Jesus Chris did this when his adversaries brought before him a woman caught in the act of adultery and wanted him to condemn her and have her stoned to death. Jesus simply told the accusers that he among the accusers who was without sin should throw the first stone at the woman. Very quickly his protagonists quickly examined their consciences and after finding that they had all sinned, they refrained from stoning the woman and instead threw away their stones and went away.

Recently, Burkina President Blaise Compaore did to his critics what  Jesus did to his challengers. During the African-American Summit in Washington, a journalist asked the Burkina President to comment on the remark made by U.S. President Barrack Obama that what Africa needs is strong institutions, not strong men. Compaore responded to the journalist by affirming that there can be no strong institutions without strong men.

There are obvious implications in the Burkina President’s response. Firstly, by putting the question to him, the journalist intended to place him in the hot seat because he is one of Africa`s longest serving presidents. A military officer, he seized power in a bloody coup that toppled his predecessor, Thomas Sankara to whom he was Number Two after they overthrew the president who was there before them.

Compaore  is believed to have masterminded Sankara`s assassination, yet both of them grew up as best friends to the extent that their two families were like one and they were like twins. 

After coming to power he founded the Organisation pour la Démocratie populaire/Mouvement du travail (ODP/MT) which merged with twelve other political parties in 1996 to become the Congrès pour la Démocratie et le Progrès (CDP). Compaore was elected President of the Republic in 1991, 1998, 2005 and 2010. But his victories have been dogged by protests and boycotts by the opposition.

 In recent years he has sought to amend the constitution in order to run again as president in yet another mandate – a move that has been widely criticized internally and internationally. His recent dismissal of President Obama`s whistle blowing is seen as another attempt on Compaore`s part to dig in his heels and still contest the next presidential election.