Burkina Faso: Endless Queues For Public Service Competitions

The town hall of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. 

In Burkina Faso, this is the period for filing applications for direct public service contests. This year, the Burkinabe state plans to recruit 22,755 new civil servants, a figure below 2016. 80% of the posts to be filled will be occupied by needs to satisfy education and health. But the deposit system, which consists of assigning a number to each request received at the counter, leads to long queues.

Whether at the August 4th stadium, at the women's house or at the Ecole Nationale des Regies Financiers, thousands of young graduates wait for days to submit their application for the competitive entrance examination public. " On my receipt, I see 9082 and yet we need only 15 people, " says a candidate, annoyed.

Several candidates are obliged to spend the night in front of counters to hope to file their file. " It's war. People have been sleeping there since 7 pm. [...] It's like that every day. You have to sleep there, otherwise, you can not file [the file]. I arrived there around 2 am, I was 130th on the list, "laments a young man who ensures that some candidates have been waiting for more than 24 hours.

" With the ticket system this year it is not easy, regrets Bibata Sori, the president of the commission of receipt of the files at the house of the woman of Ouagadougou. You must give one ticket per candidate and per file. "

This year, the Burkinabe government is recruiting more than 22,000 new civil servants. A number down from the 2016 session. 80% of the available positions are at the level of education and health. Many candidates are arguing for a postponement of the deadline for filing files.