[2][3] They organized several protests in early 2014, for example hosting a joint rally with the newly formed Movement of People for Progress, filling a 35,000-capacity sports stadium to its rafters.
[4] When the October 2014 Burkinabé uprising broke out the group became a prominent part of the protests, its activists gaining note due to their presence on the streets.
The presidency was subsequently occupied by the military, which named the pro-protest officer Yacouba Isaac Zida as the country's interim leader.
Le Balai Citoyen, which launched a symbolic sweeping of Ouagadougou's streets following Compaoré's departure,[6] has been reported to be supportive of Zida's transitional rule.
[3] The movement is part of the Burkinabé Sankarist political tradition, appealing to the legacy and ideals of Captain Thomas Sankara, a radical left-wing revolutionary who ruled the country from 1983 until his death in 1987, killed during a coup orchestrated by his successor Compaoré.
[8] The movement is named both in reference to "sweeping out" perceived political corruption, and to the regular street-cleaning exercises – initiated by Thomas Sankara – in which citizens would pick up brooms and clean their neighbourhoods, both an act of community development and a metaphor for societal self-sufficiency.
[11][14] However, the movement as a whole would bring together people of various militant backgrounds, such as syndicalists, Marxists and other leftist activists, who shared a distrust towards the traditional political party as an organisational form.
[11][12] The two musicians worked hard to further advance the movement by hosting conferences and meeting with influential figures, rural community members, and students from across the country.