Did Burkina Faso’s Junta Really Replace Lawyers’ Wigs With Traditional Caps?
There is a circulating claim that Burkina Faso has replaced lawyers’ wigs with traditional caps.
Posted on X on February 22, 2025, by the handle, the post says: “BREAKING NEWS :, 22/2/25 BRINGING COLONIAL-ERA TO AN END👇 Burkina Faso, the model of Africa leadership. Replace lawyers wig with traditional African caps., While in fulani controlled govt of 🇳🇬 ZOO keep wearing 🇬🇧 slave masters wig.. FREE MNK, end 🇳🇬 @AU @UN @WHITEHOUSE”
As of the time this report was published, the post had over 1,100 views, 1 reply, over 120 reposts and quotes, and about 105 likes. The only comment on the post made by @EbukaV91712 said, “may you live long”. A cursory search revealed that similar claims was also posted here, and here.
VERIFICATION
Google reverse image search reveals that this image is not recent, as it dates 10 months ago. The picture of Capt. Ibrahim Traore and the judges were taken on April 15, 2024, when 3 new members of the constitutional council were sworn-in and released by the Presidency of Faso on the same day.
Magistrates and lawyers in Burkina Faso wore black satin robes, a tradition inherited from the country’s colonial past since the 1960s. This attire was standard for legal professionals, including judges and clerks, during court proceedings. But, the barrister wig has never been part of Burkinabe judicial personnel attire as seen here and here.
Prior to 2022, judges in Burkina Faso wore black satin robes without the use of wigs, as can be seen in the picture of Justice Jean Emile Somda and a video of Judge Fatimata Sanou Touré, a magistrate and former presiding judge at the Court of Appeal who currently serves as a member of the Constitutional Council of Burkina Faso. In this official portrait of Maitre Barthélémy Kere, a former president of the Bar Association of Burkina Faso, he’s pictured without a wig but a traditional cap.
However, on April 28, 2023, Burkina Faso’s ministers adopted a decree promoting the use of traditional fabric for economic and cultural identity purposes. In November 2024, the Burkinabè government officially replaced these colonial-era robes with traditional garments made from locally woven cotton fabric known as Faso Dan Fani. This change was aimed at promoting national identity and reducing reliance on imported garments. The new attire includes a black cloak with gold decorations, the national flag, and a flat-topped hat.
Contrary to some reports, colonial-era white wigs were never part of Burkina Faso’s courtroom attire and there was no official ban on such wigs. The recent reform focuses on adopting traditional fabrics and designs to replace previously imported judicial garments.
CONCLUSION
The claim that Burkina Faso has replaced lawyers’ wigs with traditional caps is MISLEADING. The change enacted in April 2023 involved replacing imported satin robes with locally made fabrics, not wigs. Wigs, a feature of some former British colonies, have never been part of the judicial dress in Burkina Faso, a Francophone nation.
