In Côte d’Ivoire, the north-eastern border of Burkina has been struggling for almost two years with the jihadists. The army is widely deployed in the area, but the government also intends to focus on local development to pull the rug out from under the jihadists. Prime Minister Patrick Achi is expected in the area and in particular in Kafolo this Saturday morning, to announce a financing plan for young people in the region. An economically devastated region.
With our special correspondent in Kafolo, Peter Pinto
Kafolo experienced glorious hours in the 1980s or 1990s when the Kafolo Lodge hotel attracted tourists who came for a safari in the vast adjoining Comoe park, as large as the Ile de France. But growing security considerations got the better of the hotel business even before the 2020 attack. And since then, what remains of the local economy (agriculture, fishing) has suffered from insecurity and fear.
Kafolo therefore does not refuse government aid, on the contrary, indicates the president of the young people Traoré Lamissa. ” What is certain is that we want projects to work, to have money, and then create jobs for young people, we will be happy. »
The village chief, Bamba Tiémogo pleads for the tarring of the track which bypasses the park from the north and runs along the Burkinabe border. He hopes to be able to tell the Prime Minister. ” I think it’s the 7th minister who is coming, that reassures us a lot. Not only safety and there but what we are still waiting for is the road network. We would like Kafolo to be an administration, sub-prefecture, town hall, police…that the State be present. The other concern is that we have a water problem. The government should think about that, in relation to a castle. »
Bamba Tiémogo is convinced of this. Development will keep the jihadists away. In June 2020, an attack on an army hold in the village of Kafolo killed 14 people, all soldiers. The same village was attacked again in March 2021. 5 people were killed there, including 2 soldiers. Other attacks or explosions of improvised explosive devices are regularly reported in this area.