The story behind the numbers
For ordinary Burkinabè, daily life is a struggle against growing hardship and limited access to basic services. Yet the transitional government has indulged in a baffling display of self-congratulation. By announcing a theoretical administrative performance score of 85.38% for 2025, the executive has taken the disconnect between official rhetoric and ground reality to a new level. Behind the slogans about “sovereignty” and “digitalization,” these reforms barely hide the cracks in a state apparatus that is losing its bearings.
Why the statistics don’t add up
How can anyone claim near-excellent efficiency when citizens face deserted service counters, unbearable delays to obtain civil status documents, and rampant corruption in public procurement? The performance index promoted by the National Council for the Modernization of Administration is pure bureaucratic rhetoric. This self-assessed figure reflects neither the actual quality of services delivered nor the legitimate frustration of neglected rural populations.
The digitalization mirage in local realities
The executive touts the digitization of procedures as the hallmark of its action. But accelerating paperless processes in a country plagued by recurrent power cuts and weak internet coverage in the provinces is a headlong rush. Far from being inclusive, this blind transformation risks excluding millions of citizens who lack the necessary equipment or access to digital platforms from public services.
Territorial redeployment: promises without resources
While it is imperative to support the presence of armed forces with the return of public services, the announcement of an administration ready to immediately reinvest in recaptured areas looks more like a communication posture than an operational plan. Without solid security guarantees for state agents (teachers, health workers, administrators) and without an equipment budget matching the stakes, sending civil servants to the front lines is reckless.
Cracking down on the civil service
Finally, under the guise of establishing an “integrous and disciplined” administration, the regime is actually preparing the ground for increased politicization of the senior civil service. The overhaul of appointment criteria and tighter control over public agents serve as a lever to sideline dissenting voices and silence trade unions.
Rather than multiplying seminars and statistical self-congratulation in Ouagadougou, the government would be better advised to tackle the root causes of state inefficiency: lack of resources on the ground, absence of real accountability, and the continuous deterioration of workers’ purchasing power.
