Yorian Gabriel Somé

Yorian Gabriel Somé ( 1935 - August 9, 1983 Schwarzer Volta ) was a politician , chief of staff and defense minister in Upper Volta .

After the independence of Upper Volta, Somé developed into an influential member of the government and the armed forces. He held important ministerial posts and other government offices and was ultimately the second most powerful man in Upper Volta in the regime of Major Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo .

Career

He developed the reputation of a strong anti-communist puller with patriotic integrity who actively helped shape some of the reforms of a number of governments. From 1957 to 1959, during the founding phase of the Mali Federation , when Mali , Senegal and Upper Volta belonged to it, Somé, a veteran of the French army, represented the Diébougou area at the Territorial Assembly. Upper Volta broke away from this federation in 1959 and became independent as a republic in 1960. On November 1, 1961, he was one of the founders of the Army of Upper Volta alongside General Sangoulé Lamizana and General Baha Sy

President Maurice Yaméogo encountered considerable opposition and the army took power on January 3, 1966. Colonel Somé, one of the leaders of this coup, was instrumental in maintaining General Sangoulé Lamizana , head of the armed forces, as head of state. He himself became a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces in a government two-thirds military and one-third civilians. In 1974, Lamizana discharged all civilians from his government after the army declared them incapable and formed a government of reconstruction headed entirely by the military. He was Minister of the Interior and Security Minister repeatedly between 1971 and 1973, an office that he held again from 1976 to 1978. In 1977 Lamizana put a new constitution into effect, resigned from the army and subsequently served as president in this office. Former military foreign minister Colonel Saye Zerbo led the coup with thirty-one other officers, and Somé became head of the Military Committee on National Recovery and Progress. Six months later, Somé was appointed chief of the armed forces. Colonel Zerbo himself was overthrown in an almost bloodless coup led by Captain Thomas Sankara in November , but that was not the end of Somé's political career. Major Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo became the new Head of State and Somé, Chief of Staff and Secretary General for National Defense and he was the closest adviser to the President. Many considered him to be the real backing of the Ouedraogo government. Captain Thomas Sankara, who had to withdraw from his post as State Secretary for Information under Colonel Saye Zerbo's regime, became Prime Minister. But on May 17, 1983, after only three months as Prime Minister, Saye Zerbo was dismissed by President Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo, a practice believed to have been at Somé's initiative.

The socialist revolution of August 4th 1983

In August 1983, Captain Thomas Sankara organized a coup against Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo. This claimed, according to the official report: five dead, a dozen injured including six French including a child of four years. Two important figures in the Burkinabe army were killed. namely Colonel Yorian Gabriel Somé and Commander Guébré Fidèle. Captain Jean-Claude Kamboulé was able to escape to the Ivory Coast.

Yorian Gabriel Somé was not found by a rolling squad of the putschists in his apartment. He had discussed measures to thwart the coup with the military prefect of the department of Black Volta, Lieutenant Karim Lompo (born October 31, 1942 in Bobo-Dioulasso) and was arrested on August 9, 1983 with Fidèle Guèbré and shot while trying to escape.

His battle name was MAGGI CUBE, as it could be "tasted" from all "government coalition sauces".

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Raph Uendung, Makers of Modern Africa, Africa Journal Limited, 1991, p. 718
2. ↑ Vincent Ouattara, L'Ere Compaoré: Politique, crimes et gestion du pouvoir, p. 19 ; Translations on Sub-Saharan Africa, United States. Joint Publications Research Service, 1974, p. 41
3. ↑ The World Today, [1] p. 365