# Ibrahim Traoré > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "Ibrahim Traoré," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ibrahim-traore/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *John Kiriakou's assessment of the military ruler of Burkina Faso — a young officer who took power promising a return to democracy, and who in Kiriakou's account has grown increasingly irrational, criminalising homosexuality, abolishing the electoral commission and moving to expel foreigners.* - **Who:** A young military officer who seized power in Burkina Faso - **When, per Kiriakou:** At least three years before September 2025 - **The promise:** A transition back to democracy at the outset - **What happened:** No transition — "He's the dictator" - **Recent measures cited:** Homosexuality criminalised with a ten-year penalty - **The electoral commission:** Scrapped; its staff dismissed; personal control assumed - **Also under way:** A programme to expel foreigners - **Kiriakou's summary:** "It's getting worse and worse and worse" **Ibrahim Traoré** is the military ruler of Burkina Faso, assessed by John Kiriakou on the DeProgram programme in September 2025 after a viewer raised his name. Kiriakou recognised it at once — *"Oh, I know him"* — where his co-host did not.[1] ## Taking power Kiriakou's summary is that Traoré is *"a young military officer in Burkina Faso that took power I don't know, two, three, four years ago"*, by overthrowing the government.[1] His judgement of the trajectory since is negative and recent: *"He's become, in my view, increasingly irrational over the last couple of months."*[1] ## The undelivered transition The first charge is the broken promise. *"It's been at least three years now and there has been no transition back to democracy, which he had promised at the outset. Didn't happen. He's the dictator. The military dictator."*[1][2] Kiriakou treats the promise itself as a recognised genre rather than a personal failing, and supplies the standard wording: *"Well, we will have an election as soon as things settle down."*[2] ## The recent measures He cites three, in the order he recalled them. The first is criminal. *"He outlawed homosexuality. So if you're gay, you risk 10 years in prison for being gay."*[2] The second is institutional, and Kiriakou explains the body before describing its abolition — Burkina Faso maintains a permanent electoral commission whose job is to plan each election. *"He scrapped it. Fired everybody. Got rid of everybody. He took personal control."* The consequence he draws is direct: *"and there aren't going to be any elections."*[3][4] The third he sources vaguely, saying only that he does not remember where he read it: a programme *"to expel all of the foreigners from Burkina Faso."*[4] ## His verdict Kiriakou notes his own surprise at knowing as much as he does about the country — *"I don't even know why I know this much about Burkina Faso"* — and does not romanticise what preceded the coup: *"Burkina Faso was never a garden spot."*[3][4] The conclusion is one sentence: *"but man, it's getting worse and worse and worse."*[4] ## See also - [Djibouti](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/djibouti) - [Somaliland](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/somali-land) - [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) ## Sources 1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-04), at 1:01:03. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPfeItwnb4&t=3663s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-04-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-04), at 1:01:34. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPfeItwnb4&t=3694s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-04-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 3. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-04), at 1:02:04. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPfeItwnb4&t=3724s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-04-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 4. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-04), at 1:02:36. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPfeItwnb4&t=3756s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-04-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/ibrahim-traore/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt