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In the history of Africa, there has never been an African leader who survived as many coup attempts as the youngest President in the world, Ibrahim Traore. Again and again, destabilizing internal forces that are controlled by external forces have tried their best to remove Traore from power but they have failed and hopefully will continue to fail. Recently, in Burkina Faso, it was announced that an attack had taken place at the Presidential palace. According to the reports, an individual who remains unknown launched a sudden and violent attack on the guard station, leading to an exchange of gunfire between the guards and the attacker. No doubt, the plan was to take out Traore but with the decisive help of the soldiers present, the security was able to take control of the situation and prevent further escalation of violence. This recent attack marks the 9th coup attempt on Traore in two years. This is baffling and it is quite interesting that it happened just a few weeks before the end of Traore’s transitional government. Why do these attacks keep happening and who are involved?
Looking through the reports of the previous attacks, it can be observed that those involved are usually local actors, especially from the Burkinabe army. So, does it mean that despite the support from the citizens of the country, there are those who do not want Traore to remain as President of Burkina Faso? Well, when it comes to African politics and governance, one thing you should understand is that external factors are always at play. Given the abundance of African resources, history has shown us that the West, such as the US and France, is very much interested in having access to these resources with ease. However, for the West, the only way to have easy access to these resources is not through trade like China does but by controlling the government. When the government of an African country is pro-Western, the West would be able to sign agreements that grant them easy access to the resources in that country in exchange for pittance. This is their ultimate goal and all those summits held between African countries and Western nations where they always talk about how they want to see the continent develop, are just a farce.