The defendant Vincent Dabilgou, it should be remembered, was being prosecuted by the courts in Burkina Faso for embezzlement of public funds, money laundering, and the hidden financing of political parties, including the party of which he is the president, the NTD. He was sentenced in August of 2023 by the court in Burkina Faso.

The court in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou sentenced Vincent Dabilgou, former transport minister, to eleven years in prison for embezzlement of public funds and money laundering, the local media said, citing judicial sources.

The court reportedly charged the former minister with ‘misappropriation of public funds’ to the tune of 1.12 billion CFA francs (about $1.9 million), and ‘hidden financing of a political party.’

Dabilgou is the founder and chairman of the New Era for Democracy (NTD) party, whose activities the court also ordered suspended.

The ex-minister must also pay a fine of 3.3 billion CFA francs ($5.5 million) following the order and is banned from all political activities for five years.

READ: Politicians don't give a dam!

In addition, the tribunal directed that the former minister's assets be forfeited to the extent of the amounts embezzled to the treasury.

The court verdict also affected two of Dabilgou's former colleagues in the ministry, Sere Jean-Gabriel and Kouanda Malick, who received prison sentences ranging from six to eleven years, along with hefty fines for ‘abuse of power.’

Burkina Faso has been ruled since September 2022 by an interim government led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, who took power from the previous coup leader Paul-Henri Damiba, who overthrew Kabore.

Vincent Dabilgou headed Burkina Faso's Transport Ministry under President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, who was overthrown in a coup in January 2022. Before the Transport Ministry, he served as Minister of Urban Development.

However, a video of Vincent Dabilgou surfaced on social media, which has since gone viral with the caption ‘From Grace to Grass,’ showing him being subjected to public beatings after being found guilty of embezzlement.

The passport to achieving wealth in Africa is by entering into politics.

The question we ask is:

As a powerful deterrent, sending a clear message to future public servants about the consequences of engaging in corruption and state capture when found guilty, should we consider introducing public flogging as part of sentencing our corrupt African leaders and their accomplices?

By Theo Edwards for YAME

Feel free to join the conversation by posting your comment! We encourage readers across the political spectrum to participate. We hold Space for everyone on YAME. yame [dot] space.