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November 07, 2005

Blaise Campaore to visit Djibo tomorrow!

Lieutenant John came round again last night, rather nervous on account of the President's impending visit to Djibo. As commander of the northern brigades, John is responsible for the smooth running of the visit. 'After Tuesday I will be able to sleep again at night,' he muttered. 'If anything goes wrong - '. He drew his finger melodramatically across his throat.

Cristiano asked him whether President Blaise Campaore will win another term in office (elections take place next Sunday).
'Of course he will,' said John. 'Let's talk about something different.'

Cristiano talked about something else. Unfortunately, he chose to talk about his recent visit to Libya, and about Colonel Gaddafi. 'People in Libya love Gaddafi, don't they?' said Cristiano. 'His poster is on every wall, looking a bit like this - ' and he raised one eyebrow and peered down his nose at us. Iranaldo and I collapsed laughing.

John was stirred. 'Stop!' he cried. 'This is not Brazil! You are not in Copacabana now! This is Africa. Nous avons peur. Fermes ta bouche!.'

And with that he rushed outside, jumped into his Mercedes and sped off, grinding his undercarriage on the first pothole.

He's right, of course. This is not Copacabana. This is Burkina Faso, and at election time anything can happen.

Posted by sahelsteve at November 7, 2005 04:23 PM