Madar (Ouagadougou) - Burkina Faso's security minister, Mahamadou Sana, on Monday, 2 November 2026, denounced the misuse of the Laabal card by some road-control officers to extort money from road users, saying it "has been diverted from its original purpose", leFaso.net reported.
The minister was speaking at the monthly flag-raising ceremony in Ouagadougou. He praised the security forces' commitment to protecting the population but condemned practices he said were contrary to the values of the Progressive Popular Revolution.
"Instead of making it easier for road users to pay fines, this card has unfortunately been used as a means of pressure and an instrument of corruption to extort people," Sana said, adding that he would show no leniency towards the officers involved.
The minister said the Laabal card was designed mainly to let road users continue their journey after an offence and pay the fine later, ending the systematic impounding of vehicles and their transfer to police stations.
He said he had instructed that card holders pay the minimum fine and that community work no longer be the priority. "Any repression that does not raise awareness is useless," he said.
Sana also reviewed his ministry's activities in October, including helmet-wearing operations, the opening of a passport office in Ziniare on 13 October and the launch on 14 October of the national police's first modern checkpoint on the RN3 highway. The source did not say how many officers were involved or whether any had been sanctioned.
