[FACT CHECK]: Did Burkina Faso’s Traore truly exempt older citizens from water, utility bills?

Claim: An X account claims Ibrahim Traore has removed electricity and water bills for the elderly people in Burkina Faso.

Verdict: Misleading! There is no public statement or evidence that Ibrahim Traore has exempted the older citizens from water and utility bills in Burkina Faso. Findings revealed that it was from an old claim recirculated.

Full Text

Captain Ibrahim Traore took over power in Burkina Faso after overthrowing Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba on September 30, 2022, marking the country’s second military coup in eight months.

Traore’s leadership has since gained global attention, as he took bold steps to launch Burkina Faso’s gold refinery, while establishing national gold reserves for the first time in the nation’s history.

In a bid to boast about Traore’s achievements, an X account, African Hub, on May 15, 2025, shared a post claiming that Ibrahim Traore has removed electricity and water bills for older citizens in Burkina Faso.

The claim reads, “Ibrahim Traore wipes out electricity and water bills for the elderly people in Burkina Faso. Your thoughts on this (sic)”

As of May 19, 2025, the post has garnered over 9,000 views, 1218 reposts and 7,180 likes.

Some of the commenters believed the claim. For instance, Olufemi Ayodele wrote, “This man makes positive declaration by the day. Man is not interested in keeping any money for himself. It takes a lot of courage, kindness and discipline to be able to do this. Most African leaders don’t have that. (sic)”

Meanwhile, an X user, Dylonn Burkindi, who appears to be of Burkina Faso descent, given his name, disagreed with the claim. He commented, “You need to stop with your fake news @AfricanHub_ . Liar ! (sic)”.

The post can also be found on X here, here and here. It also went viral on Facebook, here, here, here and here.

Given the virality of the claim and the importance of information verification, we fact-checked it.

Verification

A keyword search on Google revealed that the video with over 5,000 views, first surfaced on a YouTube account, Jus Jabali Afrika, on April 2, 2025.

However, Jabali further posted the video on Instagram on April 3, 2025, before it later went viral across several social media platforms. These findings indicate that it was an old claim recently recirculated to misinform the public.

No credible local and international news organisations reported the claim.

Furthermore, we checked Captain Ibrahim Traore’s official X account, but we found no public statement or evidence that supports the claim.

Conclusion

The claim that Ibrahim Traore has removed electricity and water bills for the elderly people in Burkina Faso is misleading. Findings revealed that it was from an old claim, recirculated, and there is no public statement or evidence supporting the claim. Also, no credible local and international news organisations reported it.