L’honored man is well known in the political circle, but visibly less so in the literary world. However, the native of Koumi, a village located regarding fifteen kilometers from Bobo-Dioulasso, is not a neophyte of literary writing. He is the author of several works, including “Governance and local liberties, for a renaissance of Africa”, Karthala, Paris, 2007, and my Commune, ENIF AS SALAM, Ouagadougou, 2007. The politician and now a man of letters, following a break, resumed his pen to retrace his journey. “Critical Moments » which has just been published is an autobiographical work. The dedication ceremony for this book took place on Thursday, December 22, 2022, at the Mercury bookstore, located in Ouagadougou.
On this occasion, political figures, who sometimes fought each other, marked their presence. A crowd that suggested a meeting to talk regarding national reconciliation.
Soungalo Appolinaire Ouattara, author of “Critical Moments », says that his work traces his life and the political history of Burkina Faso. This work favors the approach of the autobiographical novel in which several narrators intervene, embellished with accounts of the witnesses, but each narrator intervenes according to his own techniques of narration, introspection and questioning.
This is why the universe of the story is painted with colors and sounds, he said. In addition, he made a point of recalling that no writing is neutral, neither in its form nor in the bottom, as underlines it Roland Barthes. « Critical moments » delivers a message of peace, living together and fighting, he suggested. Also, in the life of men as in the life of Nations, critical moments are the seeds of major decisions to move forward boldly and positively impact the personal and collective experience. He explained that the book offered several avenues of reading, namely the human story of a studious childhood, heavy with responsibilities comparable to those of a man taken in great moments of decision in critical periods of our Nation. Also, it can help to understand the changes in the State and Burkinabè society in its quest for living together, its concept of building the rule of law and economic and social development, he added.
“Critical Moments” recalls values that show where we come from and questions the paths to follow, it is therefore a question of sacrificing to a duty of accountability and a legacy. Also, I pass on to young people what Burkina Faso has given me best, and what life has taught me,” he said.
For Thierry Millogo, publisher of “critical moments”, the work is one of the works that will contribute to educating our youth. It is also the life and experience of a great leader. He considers that Soungalo Appolinaire Ouattara is a good ancestor, because he left a legacy to the youth.
Guests took the floor to testify to the qualities of the man and his work. They invited each other to appropriate the content.
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framed
A journey
Soungalo Appolinaire Ouattara, author of “Critical Moments”, is a graduate of EAM in Ouagadougou and the Institute of Political Studies in Toulouse. Civil administrator by profession, he was Permanent Secretary of the National Commission for Decentralization, Secretary General of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Security, Secretary General of the Presidency of Faso, Minister Delegate to the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, in charge of local authorities, Minister of the Civil Service, Labor and Social Security, Minister of the Civil Service and State Reform, President of the National Assembly, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of La Francophonie. Note that the list of functions held by the man is not complete.