Several hundred thousand farm workers migrate south every year to Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana in search of paid labour. Governmental instability during the 1970s and 1980s was followed by multiparty elections in the early 1990s. Formerly the Republic of Upper Volta, it was renamed on Augby President Thomas Sankara to mean "the land of upright people" (or "upright land") in Mossi and Dioula, the major native languages of the country. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the south east, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the south west. Problems were magnified, and the military take‐overs‐‐or the attempts-came one after another.1 The data here is an estimation for the year 2005 produced by the International Monetary Fund in April 2005.īurkina Faso is a landlocked nation in West Africa.
Many political figures were given to excesses. Throughout black Africa, disenchantment followed the euphoria of independence when prosperity did not come with African rule. Political parties, in the Western sense, were unknown. Most of her citizens earned less than $50 year. At the time of independence she had only about 20 college graduates and no universities. Upper Volta's situation was not untypical. Joyous at the idea of Independence, these new nations sought to bring economic well‐being to communities that could function only as suppliers of raw materials to Europe and as markets for Europe's manufactured products. Like other new nations she became independent with borders that had been determined by colonial rulers without allowance for historical, tribal or language differences and without any assurance of economic viability. Upper Volta's recent history fits a pattern found in most former colonies. The new Cabinet has 11 soldiers and 4 civilians. 8, one diplomatic source commented, “Decisions are being made again.” And a civil servant suggested that the President had been “more responsible to the people by kicking the politicians out than the politicians had been by trying to get in.”
#A HITORY OF UPPER VOLTA FULL#
With the return to full military rule Feb. The principal antagonists were the former Premier, Gerard Ouedraogo the former leader of Parliament, Joseph Ouedraogo, who is no relation, and Mr. General elections were promised for 1974.īut a three‐way split developed among political figures apparently jockeying for influence before the general election. Ten civilians and four military men made up the Cabinet. A new Constitution was pqt into effect and a 50‐member Assembly voted into poirer. Here in Upper Volta, General Lamizana's military Government had permitted civilian leadership in 1970. At least 15 unsuccessful attempts at coups are known during the same time. 1968.Ĭoups have taken place as well in Libya in 1969, Nigeria twice in 1966, Rwanda in 1973, Somalia in 1969, the Sudan in 19, Togo in 1963 and Uganda in 1971. Three other West African countries have also been taken over by the military - Ghana in 19, Mali in 1968 and Sierra Leone in 1967 and. In recent years there have been coups in Algeria in 1965, Burundi in 19, the Central African Republic in 1966, the Congo Republic in 19 and Zaire, the former Belgian Congo, in 19.ĭahomey, a West African neighbor of Upper Volta, has had coups in 1963, 1965, 1967, 1968.19. However, in Sierra Leone, a year‐old military Government was overthrown in April, 1968, and replaced by a civilian administration headed by Siaka P.
There have been several similar attempts to return to civilian rule in Africa, but most have failed. President Lamizana, who has been in power since demonstrations toppled the civilian Government of President Maurice Yameogo in 1966, asserted that the military had acted because Government operations had been paralyzed since late January by the squabbling of rival civilian leaders. Sangoule Lamizana, the President of Upper Volta, that Parliament had been dissolved and the Constitution suspended, with the military again taking over. It was the second military take‐over in Upper Volta in 13 years of independence from France, and it brought to an end an attempt to create a workable military‐civilian government as a step toward the return to civilian rule in this drought‐ stricken land of more than five million.
OUAGADOUGOU, Upper Volta,-Since the ouster of king Farouk of Egypt in 1952, there have been 30 military coups on the African continent, the latest of them last month in this landlocked country of subsist.
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