At Le Proces, or “The Trial,” a bar in Ouagadougou, artist and co-founder Patrick Kabre works the crowd and causes laughs with his observations on Burkina Faso today.

“We are debating the state of the nation. We need a judge to deliver the sentence – and we have one here!” he says.

Microphone in hand, Kabre has no shortage of absurd or dark material in a land where the frontier of chaos seems ever closer.

In less than nine months, the impoverished, landlocked Sahelian country has endured two military coups, each sparked by the ousted regime’s failure to repel deadly jihadist attacks.

In front of the master of ceremonies, a colossal figure in black and red judge’s robes sways gently to the music, surrounded by a multitude of smiling spectators.

This is bartender Dao Moumine, who has left his counter for a few moments.

“They’re on The Trial, I’m the judge,” the giant in the smock told AFP.

“I serve justice,” he said, referring to beer, “and the International Criminal Court,” the house’s rum special.

This unusual space for free debate, music and slam poetry first opened in 2019.

After a rainy season break, it reopened on Saturday just a week after the recent coup.

The clinking of bottles and rum schnapps add a touch of normality to the ambience during one of the first nights of music since the military took power. Everyone shares the latest gossip and military rumors.

For some Europeans present it is the first evening. There was a wave of anti-France anti-colonial slogans, and a number of companies were urging their foreign workers to stay home.

The idea for the bar, which is open every weekend in the Goughin district, came about among friends who “wanted to discuss the issues that have wreaked havoc in this country: justice, impunity,” Kabre said.

Burkina Faso, the scene of a popular uprising that would end Blaise Compaore’s long rule in 2014, was hit hard the following year by attacks by jihadist groups spreading from neighboring Mali.

Violence and political instability led to the two coups of 2022. The last brought a 34-year-old captain, Ibrahim Traore, to power.

“The solution to all of this is neither military nor political,” Ali Kiswinsida Ouedraogo, aka Doueslik, a 36-year-old slam poet, told AFP. “The solution is social… and it comes through culture.”

Service is only at the counter, allowing Judge Moumine, a specialist in butt-faced comedy, to deliver edicts before fulfilling the order.

There is a serious side to clowning, he says: the process is both a safety valve and a forum that hopefully will make people aware of the bigger picture in Burkina Faso and its problems.

“Artists have to perform. Venues like this are important,” said Ouedraogo.

Kabre wants The Trial to be a “rainbow” venue where all nationalities can gather and “talk to each other, listen to each other”.

Everyone is welcome, says Kabre, who is playing with a German DJ that evening.

He lists distinguished clients who have come to his house: army officers, ambassadors, even government ministers – and of course judges.