BURKINA FASO

      Keys events

1958 (11 December)

The Republic of Upper Volta is proclaimed within the French Community.

1959 (9 February)

Election of Maurice Yaméogo as President of the Republic.

1960 (5 August)

Independence proclaimed.

1965 (December)

General strike and demonstrations against the policy of austerity.

1966 (4 January)

Maurice Yaméogo is dismissed by the army. Lieutenant Colonel Sangoulé Lamizana becomes Head of State. The Constitution is suspended.

1970 (14 June)

A new Constitution is adopted by referendum. General Laminaza remains President, Gérard Kango Ouedraogo is Prime Minister.

1974 (8 February)

The National Assembly is dissolved. Suspension of the Constitution. Formation of the Government of National Renewal (Gouvernement de Renouveau National – GRN). Power is once again in the hands of the military under the direction of General Laminaza.

1974 (December)

Border conflict with Mali.

1975 (17-18 Dec.)

General strike.

1976 (February)

Formation of government with a majority of ministers belonging to the National Liberation Movement (Mouvement de Libération Nationale – MLN).

1977 (27 November)

New Constitution adopted.

1978 (20 April)

General elections. A majority of seats won by the Volta Democratic Union - African Democratic Rally (Union Démocratique Voltaïque - Rassemblement Démocratique Africain – UDV-RDA). Joseph Conombo becomes Prime Minister and Gérard Ouedraogo Speaker of the National Assembly.

1978 (28 May)

General Laminaza elected President against Macaire Ouedraogo.

1980 (Oct.-Nov.)

Teachers’ strike.

1980 (24 November)

Military coup d’état. Colonel Saye Zerbo takes power. Creation of the Military Recovery Committee for National Progress (Comité Militaire de Redressement pour le Progrès National – CMRPN). The Constitution is suspended.

1981 (9 September)

Captain Thomas Sankara is appointed Secretary of State for Information.

1982 (7 November)

Military coup d’état at the initiative of Colonel Somé Yoryan. The Committee for the Salvation of the People (Comité du Salut du Peuple – CSP) appoints Doctor-Commander Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo as President.

1983 (10 January)

The CSP appoints Thomas Sankara Prime Minister.

1983 (17 May)

Arrest of Thomas Sankara. He is released on 30 May.

1983 (4 August)

Coup d’état. The National Council of the Revolution (Conseil National de la Révolution - CNR) appoints Thomas Sankara President.

1983 (2 October)

Speech announcing orientations.

1984 (28 May)

A plot against the new regime is uncovered. Those involved summarily executed.

1984 (12 July)

Creation of national service.

1984 (4 August)

Upper Volta changes its name and becomes Burkina Faso, “The land of righteous men”.

1985 (25 December)

Border war with Mali. Ceasefire signed on 29 December.

1987 (15 October)

Coup d’état. Thomas Sankara killed. Captain Blaise Compoaré dissolves the CNR and replaces it by the Popular Front (Front Populaire – FP).

1988 (April)

The Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (Comités de Défense de la Révolution - CDR) created by the CNR are replaced by the Revolutionary Committees (Comités Révolutionnaires - CR).

1989 (18 September)

Coup d’état uncovered, supposedly prepared by Commander Jean-Baptiste Lingani and Captain Henri Zongo. They are executed without trial.

1991 (2 June)

Adoption by referendum of a draft Constitution that provides for the election of the President and the Assembly, establishes the separation of powers and a multi-party system.

1991 (1 December)

Election of Blaise Compaoré, the only candidate in the presidential election.

1992 (24 May)

General elections. The party of the President, the Organisation for Popular Democracy- Labour Movement (Organisation pour la Démocratie Populaire – Mouvement du Travail / ODP-MT) wins 78 seats out of a possible 107.

1992 (20 June)

Youssouf Ouedraogo becomes Prime Minister.

1993 (21 January)

Violent student demonstrations followed by arrests and torture. The leader of the Burkina National Students’ Association (Association Nationale des Etudiants du Burkina - ANEB) Dabo Boukari is still reported missing today.

1994 (March)

Government dissolved. Roch Marc Christian Kaboré is appointed Prime Minister.

1995 (February)

Municipal elections won by the party of the President in most communes.

1996 (6 February)

Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo is appointed new Prime Minister. The ODP-MT is dissolved and merges with about ten parties to form the Congress for Democracy and Progress (Congrès pour la Démocratie et le Progrès – CDP).

1997 (January)

The Constitution is revised. Polemic around the revision of article 37 which now allows the President of Faso to be re-elected indefinitely.

1997 (Feb.-Mar.)

University crisis marked by a long student strike that is brutally repressed.

1997 (11 May)

General elections. Overwhelming victory by the CDP, winning 101 out of 111 seats.

1997 (June)

Mélégué Maurice Traoré is elected Speaker of the National Assembly, to general surprise.

1998 (May)

Adoption of the law covering the creation, the attributions and the composition of the Independent Electoral Commission (Commission Electorale Nationale Indépendante - CENI).

1998 (June)

The thirty-fourth summit of the OAU is held in Ouagadougou. Blaise Compraoré becomes its the new President.

1998 (15 November)

Presidential election. President Blaise Compaoré is re-elected with 87.52% of the votes.

1998 (13 December)

Assassination of Nobert Zongo, director of L’Indépendant.

1999 (11 January)

Kadré Désiré Ouedraogo is reappointed Prime Minister.

1999 (14 May)

Students demanding the arrest of the suspects (close to the President) in the assassination of the journalist Nobert Zongo are involved in clashes with the police.

2000 (3 February)

Adoption of a law modifying the Electoral Code. The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) is given greater powers.

2000 (23 February)

Creation of the Burkina Faso Magistrate’s Union (Syndicat Burkinabé des Magistrats - SBM) to guarantee the independence of the judiciary.

2000 (5 July)

Closure of Ouagadougou University after 2 months of student strikes.

2000 (22 September)

Municipal elections. The CDP, the party in power, wins 42 of the 49 municipalities.

2000 (3 October)

General strike of four days at the call of the “Collective against Impunity”.

2000 (7 October)

Closure of the University of Ouagadougou.

2000 (6-7 Nov.)

Resignation of the Prime Minister and the government. Ernest Yonli is appointed to replace him.

Update currently underway.

Sources used

Afrique contemporaine, quarterly review (La Documentation Française)

AFP Afrique: daily news bulletin from Africa –Agence France Presse

Press Files from the CEAN Document Centre.

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