Burkina Faso’s military regime seeks trials for customs and judicial corruption

Allegations of corruption are being brought forward by the Korag, an oversight body established last year in Burkina Faso. Its mandate is to “monitor the implementation of the country’s strategic vision” during the current transitional period. In a comprehensive statement, the Korag sheds light on a four-year-old case involving customs agents accused of extorting money from road transporters seeking to move their trucks across borders.

According to the newly formed institution, investigators possess undeniable material evidence of this illicit scheme. This includes substantial cash sums discovered in the suspects’ offices and residences, along with eyewitness testimonies and video footage capturing them in the act of racketeering.

Despite the compelling evidence, the accused individuals were granted a dismissal of charges, a development deplored by the transitional government. The junta now accuses a lawyer and ten senior magistrates from the Ouagadougou Court of Appeal of accepting bribes to secure the release of the customs officers and to disclose the identities of key prosecution witnesses.

The Korag has condemned this as a “judicial charade” and a “severe systemic failure within the justice chain and witness protection mechanisms.” These findings, it asserts, provide sufficient grounds to justify the arrest of the magistrates last month. The junta has pledged to uphold “disciplinary measures against corrupt actors within the judiciary, without ruling out further legal proceedings.”