In a bold move to ease the financial burden on the country’s elderly, Burkina Faso’s military leader, Capt. Ibrahim Traoré, has announced that senior citizens will no longer pay for electricity and water.
Ibrahim Traore made a public announcement that elderly people in his country will now have free electricity and water.
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Traore intends to make that available for everyone for free as he believes that electricity and water are basic things that people shouldn’t be paying for it.
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Traoré’s administration has yet to clarify the policy’s implementation details, such as age eligibility or funding mechanisms
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Traoré, a 37-year-old junta leader who rose to power in a 2022 coup, has drawn comparisons to Burkina Faso’s revolutionary icon Thomas Sankara, who also prioritized social welfare during his tenure in the 1980s.
Recently, his administration nationalized foreign-owned gold mines and began constructing a national gold refinery, moves that have boosted his popularity across Africa.
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