| 2011 Burkina Faso protests | |
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| Part of the impact of the Arab Spring | |
| Date | 22 February 2011 – 9 June 2011 |
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| Casualties | |
| Death(s) | 21+ |
| History of Burkina Faso | ||||||||||||||||||
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The 2011 Burkina Faso protests were a series of popular protests in Burkina Faso.
On 15 February, members of the military mutinied in the capital Ouagadougou over unpaid housing allowances; [1] President Blaise Compaoré briefly fled the capital and sought safety in his hometown of Ziniaré. [2] By Sunday 17 April, the mutiny had spread to the town of Pô in southern Burkina Faso; [3] there were also protests over a court's decision to sentence several officers to prison sentences.
The mutiny followed popular protests over rising prices in several cities across Burkina Faso, [2] and protests starting 22 February over the death of a student in police custody in February, as well as the shooting of several other protesters. Five student protesters were reportedly killed in February. [4] France24 suggested that Burkina Faso could be caught up in a full-scale uprising similar to that seen in several North African and Middle Eastern countries, proposing the rise of a "Burkinabè Spring". [5]
On 22 April, a coalition of 34 Burkinabè opposition parties called for a rally on 30 April to demand President Compaoré's resignation. [6]
By 27 April, farmers were protesting in Bobo-Dioulasso over low prices and merchants rioted in Koudougou over the closure of 40 shops due to unpaid rent. The house of Koudougou's mayor and its police station were burned. [7] Later, that same evening, riot police joined the widespread mutiny in Ouagadougou. [8]
Four young demonstrators protesting the police mutiny on 28 April were injured when police fired live ammunition to disperse protesters after they torched a police station in Ouagadougou. [9]
On 29 April, President Blaise Compaoré announced he had negotiated with the army and they had agreed to put a stop to the mutinies and protests ravaging the country. [10]
Some 3,000 protesters attended the opposition rally on 30 April in Ouagadougou, which lasted for hours despite the hot weather. Several local pop music stars joined the protest, performing and calling on Compaoré to step down. Several protesters carried signs comparing Compaoré to ousted Tunisian strongman Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who was toppled in a January revolution. [11] Bénéwendé Stanislas Sankara, an opposition leader, said the rally was to demonstrate the desire of the Burkinabè people for reforms so that wealth from Burkina Faso's natural resources is distributed more evenly, not just benefiting those who are already rich and powerful. [12]
Health Minister Adama Traoré said on 30 April that six people had died so far as a result of the mutinies, including an 11-year-old reportedly shot and killed while at school. [12]
On 1 May, an affiliation of trade unions and civil servants in Ouagadougou canceled a planned march to commemorate May Day and protest the government due to concerns about bolstered security and the risk of agents provocateurs infiltrating the demonstration. [13]
On 15 May, soldiers fired their guns in the air through the night, apparently to protest the tardiness of reforms and benefits promised to the army rank-and-file. [14]
Three people were reportedly killed and 136 were injured during major daylong protests by students and soldiers in Ouagadougou on 24 May. [15] Students also protested in Gaoua and Bobo-Dioulasso in support of a teachers' strike, torching ruling party offices in Gaoua. [16]
The teachers' union and the government reached an agreement on 25 May, the day after the violent demonstrations, to raise wages in exchange for an end to the strike. [17]
Soldiers mutinied again on 27 May in Tenkodogo and 1 June in Bobo-Dioulasso, [18] among other cities and barracks particularly in eastern and northern Burkina Faso, firing into the air for hours on end in both daytime and nighttime hours. Shooting reportedly quieted in the north by 27 May after continuing throughout the weekend, but it had again spread to other parts of the country by that time. [19]
On 3 June 2011, at least seven people were killed as pro-government forces quelled the protests and mutiny in Bobo-Dioulasso, [20] including a 14-year-old girl. An army spokesman said 109 were detained in the government's strongest effort yet to end the mutiny. [21] Traders upset by mutineers' extensive looting in Bobo-Dioulasso called for the government to offer swift recompense for their losses. [22]
The government said it replaced all 13 regional governors as of 9 June, appointing three army officers among others to replace them in a bid to ease tensions. [23]
With the protests quieted, [24] Reforms Minister Bongnessan Arsene Ye said on 23 June that the government established a 68-member committee to consider changes to the constitution. However, opposition leader Benewende Stanislas Sankara, a key figure in the protest movement, said the opposition had declined to be represented in the committee over concerns that the changes to the constitution would allow President Blaise Compaoré to further extend his term of office rather than creating a more democratic process in Burkina Faso. [25]
In October 2014, protesters rose again to protest President Compaoré's attempt to change the Constitution of Burkina Faso so he could remain in power for another term. They stormed the National Assembly of Burkina Faso, Compaoré's presidential palace, and the state broadcaster's headquarters, among other locations.
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of 274,200 km2 (105,900 sq mi), bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and the Ivory Coast to the southwest. It has a population of 20,321,378. Previously called Republic of Upper Volta (1958–1984), it was renamed Burkina Faso by President Thomas Sankara. Its citizens are known as Burkinabè, and its capital and largest city is Ouagadougou.
The Politics of Burkina Faso takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. The President of Burkina Faso is the head of state. Executive power is exercised by both the President and the Government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The party system was dominated by the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) until the 2014 Burkinabé uprising. Since then, the CDP has lost influence. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Burkina Faso a "hybrid regime" in 2019.
The Burkina Faso Armed Forces is the term used for the national military of Burkina Faso. The service branches of the armed forces include its Army, Air Force, National Gendarmerie and People's Militia. Being a landlocked country, Burkina Faso has no navy.
Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara was a Burkinabé military officer, Marxist revolutionary, and pan-Africanist who served as President of Burkina Faso from his coup in 1983 to his deposition and murder in 1987. Viewed by supporters as a charismatic and iconic figure of revolution, he is commonly referred to as "Africa's Che Guevara".
Blaise Compaoré is a Burkinabé former politician who was president of Burkina Faso from 1987 to 2014. He was a top associate of President Thomas Sankara during the 1980s, and in October 1987, he led a coup d'état during which Sankara was killed. Subsequently, he introduced a policy of "rectification", overturning the leftist and Third Worldist policies pursued by Sankara. He won elections in 1991, 1998, 2005, and 2010 in what were considered unfair circumstances. His attempt to amend the constitution to extend his 27-year term caused the 2014 Burkinabé uprising. On 31 October 2014, Compaoré resigned, whereupon he fled to the Ivory Coast.
Articles related to Burkina Faso include:
Football is the most popular sport in Burkina Faso. And the national association can look back on recent developments with a great deal of pride. Reaching the semi-finals of the African Cup of Nations on home soil in 1998, reaching the knockout stage for their first FIFA World Youth Championship in 2003, and appearances at two final competitions of the CAF U-17 Cup, as well as third place at the FIFA U-17 World Championship in Trinidad and Tobago in 2001 are the country's outstanding achievements at international level. The nations most famous players include Kassoum Ouegraogo, nicknamed Zico, who had his most successful seasons with Espérance de Tunis before ending his career in Germany, Siaka Ouattara, who spent his entire career with Mulhouse in France, and Moumouni Dagano, who was voted best African player in Belgium in 2001, when he played for the Belgian side Genk. He later went on to play for the French side Guingamp before transferring to another French team, FC Sochaux in 2005. Burkina Faso received an unexpected free pass into the group stage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification process, when their opening round contestant, the Central African Republic, withdrew from the competition. This gave the West Africans, who were at that stage ranked 14th on the continent, the certainty that their name would be in the hat when the Preliminary Draw for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany was made. They got off to a flying start, beating Ghana 1-0 in their opening match and laying down a marker for their Group 2 adversaries South Africa, Cape Verde Islands, Congo DR and Uganda. The victory train began to come off the rails with two defeats to Cape Verde, and with a record of two wins and three losses, Burkina Faso were up against it at the half-way stage. Frenchman Bernard Simondi took over the coaching reins from Ivica Todorov and made the team harder to beat at home, even recording wins over South Africa and Congo DR, but in the end it was not quite enough, and the likes of Abdoulaye Cisse, Moumouni Dagano, and Wilfred Sanou went no further in the competition.
Simon Compaoré is a Burkinabé politician who served as Mayor of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, from 1995 to 2012. He was a prominent member of the ruling Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP), but he left the CDP and participated in the formation of the opposition People's Movement for Progress (MPP) in 2014. Following the MPP's victory in the 2015 election, he was appointed to the government. He has served as Minister of State for Internal Security since January 2016, and he also held the ministerial portfolio for territorial administration from January 2016 to February 2017.
Salif Diallo was a Burkinabé politician who was President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso from 2015 to 2017. He was a key associate of President Blaise Compaoré from the 1980s to the 2000s, serving in various posts during that period, including as Director of the Cabinet of the President from 1987 to 1989, Minister of Environment and Water from 1995 to 1999, and Minister of Agriculture from 2000 to 2008. He was appointed as Burkina Faso's Ambassador to Austria later in 2008. He also served as Vice-President of the Congress for Democracy and Progress, the ruling party.
The 2014 Burkina Faso uprising was a series of demonstrations and riots in Burkina Faso in October 2014 that quickly spread to multiple cities. They began in response to attempts at changing the constitution to allow President Blaise Compaoré to run again and extend his 27 years in office. Pressure for political change came from civil society and in particular from the country's youth. Following a tumultuous day on 30 October, which included the involvement of former Defence Minister Kouamé Lougué and the burning of the National Assembly and other government buildings as well as the ruling Congress for Democracy and Progress party's headquarters, Compaoré dissolved the government and declared a state of emergency before eventually fleeing to Côte d'Ivoire with the support of President Alassane Ouattara.
The Republican Front was a coalition of political parties in Burkina Faso. The coalition was launched on January 23, 2014, at a conference held at Hotel Splendid in the capital Ouagadougou. Some forty political parties took part in the foundation of the coalition. The coalition emerged in response to popular protests against reform of Article 37. The coalition supported holding a referendum on Article 37 of the Constitution, which would have enabled the president Blaise Compaoré took be re-elected. Amongst the leaders present at the founding of the Republican Front were Assimi Kouanda, Alain Zoubga, Ram Ouédraogo, Hermann Yaméogo, Maxime Kaboré, Toussaint Abel Coulibaly and Diemdoda Dicko (CFD).
Burkina Faso–Libya relations refers to the current and historical relationship between State of Libya and the Republic of Burkina Faso. Libya maintains an embassy in the Burkinabé capital of Ouagadougou, and Burkina Faso one in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
The Le Balai Citoyen is a political grassroots movement in Burkina Faso, which was part of the opposition against President Blaise Compaoré. It was co-founded by two musicians, reggae artist Sams’K Le Jah and rapper Serge Bambara ("Smockey") in the Summer of 2013. 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.
The Regiment of Presidential Security, sometimes known as the Presidential Security Regiment, was the secret service organisation responsible for VIP security to the President of Burkina Faso, a landlocked country in West Africa. It was autonomous from the Army. Until 31 October 2014, the President was Blaise Compaoré, a military officer who came to power in a 1987 coup d'état. The elite unit was well known for its frequent involvement in the politics of Burkina Faso, acting as the iron fist of President Compaoré in his domination of the country. They were said to be widely feared by many people in the country, which in 2012 – two years prior to the end of Compaoré's government – was described by the Democracy Index as an "authoritarian regime".
The 1982 Upper Voltan coup d'état took place in the Republic of Upper Volta on 7 November 1982. The coup, led by the little-known Colonel Gabriel Yoryan Somé and a slew of other junior officers within the military, many of them political radicals, overthrew the regime of Colonel Saye Zerbo. Zerbo had previously taken power just under two years prior to his own downfall.
The 2015 Burkina Faso coup d'état was a failed coup d'état launched on 16 September 2015 in Burkina Faso, when members of the Regiment of Presidential Security (RSP) – a controversial autonomous military unit, formed under President Blaise Compaoré – detained the country's government. Among those detained were the transitional President Michel Kafando, Prime Minister Yacouba Isaac Zida, and numerous members of the cabinet. This transitional government was formed in the wake of the 2014 Burkinabé uprising, when a popular movement overthrew the long-time president Compaoré, who himself had come to power in a 1987 coup against the left-wing leader Thomas Sankara. New general elections were planned for 11 October 2015.
The 2014–15 Burkinabé Premier League is the 53rd edition of top flight football in Burkina Faso. A total of sixteen teams competed in the season beginning on 25 October 2014 and ending on 30 May 2015.
The 2013–14 Burkinabé Premier League is the 52nd edition of top flight football in Burkina Faso. A total of sixteen teams competed in the season beginning on 7 December 2013 and ending on 27 July 2014.
Events in the year 2013 in Burkina Faso.
The 2008 Burkina Faso protests was rioting and violent mass demonstrations against food prices hikes in Burkina Faso in 2008, leading to the deaths of 3 demonstrators, who stormed government buildings amid drought and violence with troops. 7 days of protests and violent resistant explosions occurred in Ouagadougou and Bobo Dioulasso, where demonstrators clashed with government troops demanding an end to inflation and the decrease of food prices as part of the 2007-2008 world food price crisis. Protesters were also angry about low wages and unemployment skyrocketing, but euro win demands was an end to price rises, which led to the withdrawal of the plan set by president Blaise Compaore. A wave of student protests rocked the country as countrywide anti-government sentiment for the next couple of months was taking place. Protesters attacked buildings and set fire to cars, being close to killed by the military as they fired into the air to quell protesters. The unrest was eventually crushed, leading to the deaths of 3 protesters. No concessions were made apart from price decreases. However, 2 months of general strikes and nonviolent protests occurred.
