🇧🇫Burkina FasoWest Africa
Captain Ibrahim Traoré presides over graduation of 25th class of Georges-Namoano Military Academy
via Lefaso.net2 min read
Captain Ibrahim Traoré, President of Faso, Head of State, and Supreme Commander of the National Armed Forces, presided over the official graduation ceremony of the 25th class of active student officers from the Georges-Namoano Military Academy on Saturday, July 25, 2026, in Pô, Nazinon region. A total of 217 new second lieutenants are joining the service of Burkina Faso and nine other African countries: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Djibouti, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Chad, and Togo. The Burkinabe contingent of this class comprises 199 officers. The class is sponsored by General Kassoum Coulibaly, former Minister of Defense and current Ambassador of Burkina Faso to the United States of America. It is named "Lieutenant Sawadogo Alexandre Bienvenu" in honor of the officer who died in service in February 2022. Major General Moussa Diallo, Chief of Staff of the Armies, urged the new second lieutenants to demonstrate integrity and loyalty to their respective nations, instructing them to reject "ease, arrogance, corruption, and treachery." This year's ceremony was held at the site of the new academy under construction. Lieutenant-Colonel William Desmond Baguera, Commander of the AMGN, stated that the new academy symbolizes "assumed national pride" and the Head of State's commitment to its construction. The 25th class wore new uniforms made from traditional Gourmantché fabric, worn at the end of initiation rites in eastern Burkina Faso. Second Lieutenant Abdallah Cédric Ki
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