Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, President of Burkina Faso (since Jan 31, 2022)
Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba (born January 1981) is a Burkinabé military officer who heads the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration (MPSR), having overthrown President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré on 24 January 2022 in the 2022 Burkina Faso coup d’état. On 31 January, the military junta restored the constitution and appointed Damiba as interim president.
Paul-Henri Sandogo Damiba graduated from the École militaire in Paris. During his studies he met with future Guinean president Mamady Doumbouya, who was also training there. He holds a master’s degree in criminology from the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (CNAM) in Paris and a defense expert certification in management, command and strategy. From 2010 to 2020, he held training exercises in the United States.
On 24 January 2022, Damiba led the 2022 Burkina Faso coup d’état deposing and detaining President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré and Prime Minister Lassina Zerbo. While people were celebrating the coup in Ouagadougou, some supporters carried Russian flags, as a sign of their call to receive help from Russia in their fight against Islamist terrorism. After the announcement, the military declared that the parliament, government and constitution had been dissolved. On 31 January, the military junta restored the constitution and appointed Damiba as the interim president.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul-Henri_Sandaogo_Damiba
Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, Former President of Burkina Faso (elected on Nov 29, 2015)
Roch Marc Christian Kaboré (born 25 April 1957) is a Burkinabé politician who was elected as President of Burkina Faso in 2015. Previously he served as Prime Minister of Burkina Faso from 1994 to 1996 and President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso from 2002 to 2012. He also served as President of the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP). In January 2014, he left the ruling CDP and founded a new opposition party, the People’s Movement for Progress.
Kabore was born in Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso. He attended school from 1962 to 1968, when he received his CPS (Certificate of Primary School). On completing this basic education certificate, he attended Le College Saint Jean Baptiste de la Salle, a selective school in Ouagadougou. He studied there from 1968 to 1975, passing his BEPC or General Certificate (‘O’ Level) in 1972 and his baccalaureate (‘A’ level) in 1975. He went on to study economics at the University of Dijon, majoring in business administration. There, he completed his BA in 1979 and his Master’s in 1980.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roch_Marc_Christian_Kabor%C3%A9
Michel Kafando, Former Acting President of Burkina Faso (since Nov 18, 2014)
Michel Kafando (born 18 August 1942) is the transitional President of Burkina Faso, in office since 2014. He was the Permanent Representative (Ambassador) of Burkina Faso to the United Nations from 1998 to 2011; previously he served in the government as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1982 to 1983.
Following the resignation of President Blaise Compaoré amidst mass protests on 31 October 2014, Kafando was chosen to serve as President during a year-long transitional period leading to the next election. He was sworn in on 18 November 2014.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Kafando
Blaise Compaoré, Former President of Burkina Faso
Blaise Compaoré (born February 3, 1951) has been the president of Burkina Faso since 1987. He is the founder of the ruling political party, the Congress for Democracy and Progress.
Compaoré was born in Ziniaré, 34 km from Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, named at that time Upper Volta. He reached the rank of Captain in the Voltaïc army, and served as Minister of Justice during Thomas Sankara’s presidency. Compaoré met Sankara in 1976 in a military training center in Morocco, and since then Compaoré and Sankara were supposed to be close friends. Compaoré played a major role in the coups d’état against Saye Zerbo and Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo.
He has been married to Chantal Compaoré (née Chantal Terrasson) since 1985.
He became president of his country on October 15, 1987 in a bloody coup that killed Sankara, his predecessor as president. Compaoré described the killing of Sankara as an “accident”, however this claim is widely disputed. Upon taking the presidency, he reverted many of the policies of Sankara, claiming that his policy was a “rectification” of the Burkinabé revolution. Soon after he became President he also eliminated two major revolutionary leaders, Henri Zongo and Jean-Baptiste Boukary Lingani, accused of plotting against the regime.
President Compaoré and his Presidential Guard have been implicated in the death of reporter Norbert Zongo and continued intimidation of the media in Burkina Faso, according to the international organization Reporters Without Borders. The Norbert Zongo murder allegations highlighted one of the only times that Compaoré’s power has been truly questioned and jeopardized.
Blaise Campaore’s liability in connection with the assassination of former President has been the object of the first complaint Against Burkina Faso, lodged by Mariam Sankara, Thomas Sankara’s widow. In April 2006, the UN Human Rights Committee issued a damning condemnation of Burkina Faso’s failure to investigate the circumstance of Thomas Sankara’s death (and prosecute those responsible for Sankara’s death)
He has proposed a “National Reconciliation” that is not widely supported by his opposition.
Compaoré was elected president in 1991, though it must be noted that main opposition parties boycotted in protest to the questionable means Compaoré used to take office in the first place, surrounding the murder of Sankara. In this election, only 25% of the electorate even participated, emphasizing tremendous political instability and protest amongst the masses. In 1998 he was re-elected for the first time. In August 2005, he announced his intention to contest the next presidential election. Opposition politicians regard his 2005 re-election bid as unconstitutional due to a constitutional amendment in 2000 limiting a president to two terms, and reducing term lengths from seven to five years, thus barring Compaoré from seeking a third term. Compaoré’s supporters dispute this, saying that the amendment cannot be applied retroactively.
Notwithstanding opposition objections, in October 2005 the constitutional council ruled that because Compaoré was a sitting president in 2000, the amendment would not apply until the end of his second term in office, thereby allowing him to present his candidacy for the 2005 election.
On November 13, 2005, Compaoré was re-elected president, defeating 12 opponents and winning 80.35% of the vote. Although, early on in the race, 16 opposition parties announced a coalition to unseat the President, ultimately nobody wanted to give up their spot in the race to another leader in the coaliton, and the pact fell through.
