Traffic officer in Ouaga
Last week I found myself caught up in the capture of a thief who had snatched a purse from a girl on a motorbike. I was in my car, only a few meters from the girl’s bike. Days later, thinking it over, I’m still surprised at the scene that developed around the incident over only a few seconds.
The thing is, in this country, the best thing that can happen to a thief is to be caught by the police. If he is caught “red-handed,” they lynch mob that will surely respond can lead even to death.
I was stopped a traffic light. The young purse snatcher, – who mustn’t have been more than 18 -was driving a motorbike against traffic, which I didn’t even pay attention to as it is a daily event. So I didn’t even notice him. What did get my attention was the sound of a collision. The girl’s motorbike bumped a car when it fell to the side when her purse was pulled off her. A second later, cries of “au voleur” (to the thief!) set off pursuit of the purse snatcher by a group of people who appeared from nowhere and managed to trap him only centimeters from my trunk. I was trapped. I could neither advance nor retreat, surrounded by an uncontrolled mob of people.
Group of Koglweogo in Burkina
They threw the thief to the ground and began to hit him. Thank God I was with Patrick, my husband, who translated what the “posse” was shouting while they beat him. Some cried “Beat him to death,” while others begged mane sugri, mane sugri (“we must forgive, we must forgive” in Mooré), insisting that he had only stolen a bag… to which others responded that a thief is a thief and must be done away with…
Forgiveness triumphed and he was picked up and brought to the girl and the car hit by her motorbike. At that point, the area we were trapped in cleared up and we could get out of the nightmare. I asked Patrick what fate awaited the delinquent. He told me the gang probably took him to the girl and the car’s owner so he could beg forgiveness, and they would call the police afterwards to take charge of him. The young man was very lucky…
There is a reason for this dreadful scene: the lack of confidence in the country’s judicial system. It has its root in the times when the police – due to lack of resources to feed and house criminals – let them go in fewer than 24 hours…I’m not sure if that is still the reason today or if “taking the law into one’s own hands” has rather become habit.
“Union de prière” for Burkina Faso
But it doesn’t end here. This year, the phenomenon has given rise to a group of vigilantes – the “Koglweogo” (in Mooré “protect the atmosphere”) made up of townspeople, field hands, shepherds and ranchers to fight against the rising insecurity throughout the country. Armed with homemade guns and machetes, they have their own court – illegal – and they don’t mind using force, to the extreme, to determine whether or not a suspect is guilty… I do not know what percentage of the population is in favor of these vigilantes, but the results gained by the se “militia” are tangible. But many people feel that if the State can’t manage to protect its citizens, then they welcome the “Koglweogo.” Neither do I know how many people are against it, as many of their actions are untoward (illegal detentions, torture, and even some executions). Controversy is fueled. And social tensions as well.
There is no doubt that the growing insecurity in the country has been a sad reality over the last few years… But the phenomenon of taking the law into one’s own hands violates the principle that the only legitimate defender against violence is the State. So this could be a high price for my beloved Burkina if it undermines the Rule of Law… I am calling you to a union de prière (to join together in prayer) to the Virgin of Peace for Burkina.