President Ibrahim Traore has sent an envoy with a special message to President Museveni of Uganda. This was disclosed through X, formerly Twitter, on Museveni’s account.
It is worth noting that the communication between the two started during the Russia-African summit which happened in St. Petersberg Russia. At the summit, President Traore complained to, and about the African heads of state and asked why Africans and blacks are at the lowest food chain of the world in a speech that went viral.
Many of the African heads of state present at the summit were not able to able to give an answer to the youngest head of state in the world. But it was President Museveni who was able to respond in his speech where he averred that the exploitation of Africa’s resources agricultural and commodities in raw form without value addition and the boycotting of Africa’s value-added goods by the West, was the problem.
It seems that it is at this point that the two picked interest in each other, and conveniently so. On one hand, Museveni sees himself in the young Traore since President Museveni also came to power in his 30s and through a coup. On the other hand, Traore seems to see President Museveni as an elder African States Man who has experience not only in governance but also in security matters on the continent.
This view of President Museveni stems from the elder statesman’s long-standing involvement in supporting African countries such as Somalia, South Sudan, DR. Congo, Central African Republic, etc., besides his previous notable role in helping Rwanda’s Kagame to come to power. Such an experience would be helpful to the young Traore since he is dealing with security problems in Burkina Faso together with Niger and Mali.
This is not the first time for this young military leader to consult elder States men in Africa. In 2021, the Military leaders who took over power in Mali came to Ghana and Visited former president Jerry Rawlings, before his death a few months later. President Jerry Rawlings himself first came to power in Ghana through military force, similar to the young military leaders from Mali who had visited him.
So, Traore’s growing engagement with President Museveni could be a sign of good things for Pan-Africanism. Pan-African groups and leadership therefore need to seize the opportunity to inject the Pan-African thought and ideology into these young leaders who are looking for guidance to govern Africa for the Benefit of the African people and not foreign Europeans and Western countries as many African heads of state have chosen to.
A possible physical meeting between Traore and Museveni in Burkina Faso or Uganda, no doubt in the near future, could be a sign of greater things to come in terms of strengthening the security infrastructure between Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali, an area where President Museveni is experienced at.
This article was co-authored by Kwame Gonza and Mahlet. A Beyecha, Respectively the Director of Operations and the Managing Director at CONNECT AFRICA – connect2africa.org
