Michel Kafando

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Kafando (2015)

Michel Kafando (born August 18, 1942 in Ouagadougou , Upper Volta , today Burkina Faso ) is a politician from the West African state of Burkina Faso. From November 18, 2014 to September 17, 2015 and from September 24 to December 29, 2015, he was Burkinabe interim president.

Kafando enjoyed his training in Europe. He received a bachelor's degree in public law from the University of Bordeaux in 1969, a degree in political science in Paris in 1972, and in the same year a further degree from the University Institute for International Studies and Development in Geneva . In 1990 he received his doctorate in political science from the Sorbonne . 1982 to 1983 he was Foreign Minister of the Republic of Upper Volta. He has chaired various conferences at the Organization for African Unity and at the United Nations . In the latter he represented his home country in two terms of office, interrupted by an ambassadorial activity in Cuba .

On November 17, 2014, he was proposed for the office of interim president of Burkina Faso and sworn in on the following day. He succeeds the officer Isaac Zida , whom he appointed head of government on November 19, 2014.

On the afternoon of September 16, 2015, armed members of the Régiment de sécurité présidentielle (RSP), the former Praetorian Guard of President Blaise Compaoré , who had been deposed a year ago , stormed a government meeting in Ouagadougou. They arrested Kafando and his head of government Zida and took them away. Three days earlier, the National Reconciliation Commission had decided to dissolve the presidential guard, which had been barracked up until then. RSP soldiers also occupied the studios of several private radio stations and switched off the transmission systems. The programs of the foreign service of the French radio are also affected. A day later, a soldier announced on state television that the transitional government had been removed from office and that the military had taken power in the country. The coup took place less than a month before planned presidential elections, in which Compaoré's party Congrès pour la démocratie et le progrès (CDP) is excluded. On September 18, the leader of the putschists, General Gilbert Diendéré, released Kafando and almost the entire cabinet. Diendéré denied contacts with Compaoré and planned to meet with the presidents of Benin and Senegal, Boni Yayi and Macky Sall , on the same day . The national borders that have been closed since the beginning of the coup have also been reopened. Zida, formerly deputy commander of the Presidential Guard, remains missing. On September 24, 2015, Kafando returned to office, which marked the end of the coup.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michel Kafando, president de la transition. burkina24.com, November 17, 2014, accessed February 19, 2015 (French).
  2. ^ New permanent Representative of Burkina Faso resents Credentials. un.org, April 15, 1998, accessed February 19, 2015 .
  3. ↑ Michel Kafando, president de la transition. burkina24.com, November 17, 2014, accessed February 19, 2015 (French).
  4. ↑ Kafando sworn in as Burkina Faso transitional president. reuters.com, November 18, 2014, accessed February 19, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Mathieu Bonkoungou, Nadoun Coulibaly: Burkina Faso names army colonel Zida as prime minister. reuters.com, November 19, 2014, accessed February 19, 2015 .
  6. ^ Haefliger, Markus M .: The Ancien Régime stretches its head: In Burkina Faso the military seizes power at nzz.ch, September 17, 2015 (accessed on September 17, 2015).
  7. ↑ Scheen, Thomas: Burkina Faso: Putschists release presidents at faz.net, September 18, 2015 (accessed September 18, 2015).
  8. ↑ Mathieu Bonkoungou, Nadoun Coulibaly: Burkina Faso's President back in charge as Coup fails. Reuters , September 24, 2015, accessed September 25, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Kafando, Michel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Burkinabe politician
DATE OF BIRTH August 18, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Ouagadougou , Upper Volta , today Burkina Faso