Thousands of people rally in support of Burkina Faso's transitional president

Thousands of people rallied in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ougadougou, on Wednesday in support of transitional President Captain Ibrahim Traoré.

With placards in hand and whistles blowing, they were angry over remarks made by the head of United States’ military in Africa, General Michaël Langley.

Earlier this month, he accused Traoré of using the country’s mining resources to benefit the junta instead of the people.

Burkinabé musician, Ocibi Joan, who came to the protest said Langley and especially “the predators” should stop lying.

“Burkina Faso is not against anyone, but we will no longer tolerate looting. The general is a liar. We own it, we use it whenever we want, and sell it to whomever we want,” he said.

Demonstrator Haroun Sawadogo said that “if they want to eliminate Captain Traoré, they should eliminate the people first”.

“What we experienced in the 1987 [assassination] will not be repeated. What happened to Captain Sankara will not happen to Captain Traoré. We will go all the way to defend our President.”

The rally comes days after the military authorities said they’d uncovered what they described as a “plot” to overthrow the government.

Several members of parliament attended the gathering including Prime Minister Jean Emmanuel Ouédraogo.

He told the crowd that the time had come to “never again kneel before the world”.

“May the people of Burkina Faso free themselves once and for all, and may the people of the Sahel free themselves permanently,” he said.

The demonstrators came from across the country in what was the biggest show of support for the junta since Traore seized power in a September 2022 coup.