Editor’s Note: Every Friday, WPR Senior Editor Robbie Corey-Boulet curates the top news and analysis from and about the African continent.
It’s been two decades since the body of Norbert Zongo, an investigative journalist in Burkina Faso, was found in his car on a road south of the capital, Ouagadougou. He appeared to have been shot and badly burned, as had his brother, his driver and a colleague, all of whom were killed alongside him.
Suspicion immediately fell on Francois Compaore, the younger brother of longtime President Blaise Compaore. Zongo had reported aggressively on the killing of Francois Compaore’s driver, allegedly at the hands of state security forces, which would have explained how he became a target. Yet despite mass protests and some initial steps toward a comprehensive investigation in Burkina Faso, Francois Compaore was never charged or put on trial during Blaise Compaore’s tenure, which lasted until a popular uprising overthrew him in 2014.