The Most Famous

POLITICIANS from Burkina Faso

This page contains a list of the greatest Burkinabe Politicians. The pantheon dataset contains 19,576 Politicians, 14 of which were born in Burkina Faso. This makes Burkina Faso the birth place of the 120th most number of Politicians behind Central African Republic, and Benin.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Burkinabe Politicians of all time. This list of famous Burkinabe Politicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Burkinabe Politicians.

1. Thomas Sankara (1949 - 1987)

With an HPI of 68.77, Thomas Sankara is the most famous Burkinabe Politician. His biography has been translated into 77 different languages on wikipedia.

Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (French pronunciation: [tɔmɑ izidɔʁ nɔɛl sɑ̃kaʁa]; 21 December 1949 – 15 October 1987) was a Burkinabè military officer, Marxist revolutionary and Pan-Africanist who became President of Burkina Faso from 1983, when he took over in a coup, until his assassination in 1987. After being appointed Prime Minister in 1983, disputes with the sitting government led to Sankara's eventual imprisonment. While he was under house arrest, a group of revolutionaries seized power on his behalf in a popularly-supported coup later that year. At the age of 33, Sankara became the President of the Republic of Upper Volta and launched an unprecedented series of social, ecological, and economic reforms. In 1984, Sankara oversaw the renaming of the country to Burkina Faso ('Land of Incorruptible People'), with its people being called Burkinabé ('upright people'). His foreign policy was centred on anti-imperialism and he rejected loans and capital from organizations such as the International Monetary Fund. However, he welcomed some foreign aid in an effort to boost the domestic economy, diversify the sources of assistance, and make Burkina Faso self-sufficient. His domestic policies included famine prevention, agrarian expansion, land reform, and suspending rural poll taxes, as well as a nationwide literacy campaign and vaccination program to reduce meningitis, yellow fever and measles. Sankara's health programmes distributed millions of doses of vaccines to children across Burkina Faso. His government also focused on building schools, health centres, water reservoirs, and infrastructure projects. He combatted desertification of the Sahel by planting more than 10 million trees. Socially, his government enforced the prohibition of female circumcision, forced marriages and polygamy. Sankara reinforced his populist image by ordering the sale of luxury vehicles and properties owned by the government in order to reduce costs. In addition, he banned what he considered the luxury of air conditioning in government offices, and homes of politicians. He established Cuban-inspired Committees for the Defence of the Revolution to serve as a new foundation of society and promote popular mobilization. His Popular Revolutionary Tribunals prosecuted public officials charged with graft, political crimes and corruption, considering such elements of the state counter-revolutionaries. This led to criticism by Amnesty International for alleged human rights violations, such as arbitrary detentions of political opponents. Sankara's revolutionary programmes and reforms for African self-reliance made him an icon to many of Africa's poverty-stricken nations, and the president remained popular with a substantial majority of his country's citizens, as well as those outside Burkina Faso. But some of his policies alienated elements of the former ruling class, including tribal leaders — and the governments of France and its ally, the Ivory Coast. On 15 October 1987, Sankara was assassinated by troops led by Blaise Compaoré, who assumed leadership of the country shortly thereafter. Compaoré retained power until the 2014 Burkina Faso uprising. In 2021, he was formally charged with and found guilty for the murder of Sankara by a military tribunal.

2. Blaise Compaoré (b. 1951)

With an HPI of 62.78, Blaise Compaoré is the 2nd most famous Burkinabe Politician. His biography has been translated into 60 different languages.

Blaise Compaoré (born 3 February 1951) is a Burkinabé-Ivorian former politician who served as the second president of Burkina Faso from 1987 to 2014. He was a close associate of the first 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 and fled to the Ivory Coast. In April 2022, he was found guilty by a special military tribunal of complicity in Sankara’s murder. He is the longest-serving president of Burkina Faso.

3. Roch Marc Christian Kaboré (b. 1957)

With an HPI of 59.67, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré is the 3rd most famous Burkinabe Politician. His biography has been translated into 53 different languages.

Roch Marc Christian Kaboré (French pronunciation: [ʁɔk maʁk kʁistjɑ̃ kabɔʁe]; born 25 April 1957) is a Burkinabé banker and politician who served as the President of Burkina Faso from 2015 until he was deposed in 2022. He was the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso between 1994 and 1996 and President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso from 2002 to 2012. Kaboré was also president of the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) until his departure from the party in 2014. He founded the People's Movement for Progress party that same year. Kaboré was elected president in the November 2015 general election, winning a majority in the first round of voting. Upon taking office, he became the first non-interim president in 49 years without any past ties to the military. Kaboré worked as a banker prior to his political career. On 24 January 2022, during a coup d'état, Kaboré was deposed and detained by the military. After the announcement, the military declared that the parliament, government and constitution had been dissolved.

4. Michel Kafando (b. 1942)

With an HPI of 57.74, Michel Kafando is the 4th most famous Burkinabe Politician. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Michel Kafando (born 18 August 1942) is a Burkinabé diplomat who served as the transitional President of Burkina Faso from 2014 to 2015. He served in the government as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1982 to 1983 and was the Permanent Representative (Ambassador) of Burkina Faso to the United Nations from 1998 to 2011. Following the resignation of President Blaise Compaoré amidst mass protests on 31 October 2014, Kafando was chosen to serve as President during a year-long transitional period leading to the next election. He was sworn in on 18 November 2014. Kafando was briefly ousted by the Regiment of Presidential Security in a September 2015 coup, but he was restored to power within a week.

5. Maurice Yaméogo (1921 - 1993)

With an HPI of 56.37, Maurice Yaméogo is the 5th most famous Burkinabe Politician. His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Maurice Nawalagmba Yaméogo (31 December 1921 – 15 September 1993) was the first President of the Republic of Upper Volta, now called Burkina Faso, from 1960 until 1966. "Monsieur Maurice" embodied the Voltaic state at the moment of independence. However, his political ascension did not occur without difficulties. As a member of the colonial administration from 1946, Maurice Yaméogo found a place for himself in the busy political landscape of Upper Volta thanks to his skill as a speaker. In May 1957, during the formation of the first Upper Voltaic government instituted under the Loi Cadre Defferre, he joined the coalition government formed by Ouezzin Coulibaly, as minister for agriculture and a member of the Voltaic Democratic Movement (MDV). In January 1958, threatened by a vote of censure, Coulibaly enticed Maurice Yaméogo and his allies in the assembly to join the Voltaic Democratic Union-African Democratic Assembly (UDV-RDA) in exchange for promises of promotion within the government. Maurice Yaméogo rose to be his second in command, with the portfolio of the Interior, a position which allowed him to assume the role of interim head of government, following Coulibay's death in September 1958. His rather shaky political ascendancy was reinforced by circumstances. After the proclamation of the Republic of Upper Volta on 11 December 1958, he made a surprising volte-face with respect to the Mali Federation advocated by Léopold Sédar Senghor. The Voltaic assembly supported Upper Volta's membership in the Federation, but Yaméogo opted for political sovereignty and limited economic integration with the Conseil de l'Entente. Then, by means of controversial manoeuvres, Yaméogo eliminated all parliamentary opposition. The UDV-RDA was purged of his enemies and he imposed a one party system. Upper Volta found itself under a dictatorship even before its independence on 5 August 1960. In foreign policy, Yaméogo envied and admired the international success of his colleague Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the President of Côte d'Ivoire, who defied the anti-communists by establishing an ephemeral customs union (1961–1962) with the "progressivist" Ghana of Kwame Nkrumah. Houphouët-Boigny nevertheless remained his closest ally and in December 1965, Yaméogo signed an agreement with him to extend dual nationality to citizens of both countries. However, this project did not reach fruition. On 3 January 1966, as a result of severe financial austerity measures, Yaméogo's corrupt regime was overthrown by a peaceful protest organised by the unions, traditional chieftains and the clergy. In 1993, he died after having been rehabilitated by President Blaise Compaoré.

6. Saye Zerbo (1932 - 2013)

With an HPI of 52.70, Saye Zerbo is the 6th most famous Burkinabe Politician. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Saye Zerbo (27 August 1932 – 19 September 2013) was a Burkinabé military officer who was the third President of the Republic of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) from 25 November 1980 until 7 November 1982. He led a coup in 1980, but was resisted by trade unions and was overthrown by Major Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo and the Council of Popular Salvation (CSP).

7. Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo (b. 1942)

With an HPI of 51.04, Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo is the 7th most famous Burkinabe Politician. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Jean-Baptiste Philippe Ouédraogo (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ batist filip wedʁaɔɡo]; born 30 June 1942), also referred to by his initials JBO, is a Burkinabé physician and retired military officer who served as President of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) from 8 November 1982 to 4 August 1983. He has since mediated a few national political disputes and operates a clinic in Somgandé. Ouédraogo received his early education in Upper Volta before joining the Upper Voltan Army and studying medicine abroad. After working in healthcare, he was appointed chief medical officer of the Ouagadougou military camp. He participated in the November 1982 coup d'état and shortly thereafter assumed the presidency. More ideologically moderate than most of his comrades, Ouédraogo did not command much popular support and governed the country amid an unstable political climate. A protracted dispute with Prime Minister Thomas Sankara resulted in his removal from power in a coup in August 1983 and imprisonment. He was released in 1985 and resumed medical work. He opened a clinic in Somgandé in 1992, which he still operates. In the 2010s, he acted as a mediator between opposing political factions.

8. Paramanga Ernest Yonli (b. 1956)

With an HPI of 48.72, Paramanga Ernest Yonli is the 8th most famous Burkinabe Politician. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Paramanga Ernest Yonli (born 31 December 1956) also known as Ernest Paramanga Yonli, is a Burkinabé politician. He was Prime Minister from 6 November 2000 to 3 June 2007 and then President of the Economic and Social Council of Burkina Faso until March 2015. He is a member of the Congress for Democracy and Progress party and a Grand Officer of the National Order of Burkina Faso.

9. Yacouba Isaac Zida (b. 1965)

With an HPI of 47.93, Yacouba Isaac Zida is the 9th most famous Burkinabe Politician. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Yacouba Isaac Zida (born 16 November 1965) is a Burkinabé military officer who briefly served as Burkina Faso's interim head of state in November 2014. He took power in the aftermath of the 2014 Burkinabé uprising, sidelining a more senior officer, Honoré Nabéré Traoré. A few weeks later, a civilian, Michel Kafando, was chosen to replace Zida as transitional head of state; Kafando then appointed Zida as Prime Minister on 19 November 2014. Zida was briefly removed from office by the Regiment of Presidential Security in a September 2015 coup, but he was restored as prime minister within a week.

10. Apollinaire J. Kyélem de Tambèla (b. 1958)

With an HPI of 45.93, Apollinaire J. Kyélem de Tambèla is the 10th most famous Burkinabe Politician. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Apollinaire Joachim Kyélem de Tambèla (born 1955) is a Burkinabe lawyer, pan-Africanist, writer and statesman, who served as the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso from October 2022 until his firing by President Ibrahim Traoré in December 2024.

People

Pantheon has 16 people classified as Burkinabe politicians born between 1921 and 1965. Of these 16, 11 (68.75%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Burkinabe politicians include Blaise Compaoré, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, and Michel Kafando. The most famous deceased Burkinabe politicians include Thomas Sankara, Maurice Yaméogo, and Saye Zerbo. As of April 2024, 3 new Burkinabe politicians have been added to Pantheon including Apollinaire J. Kyélem de Tambèla, Gérard Kango Ouédraogo, and Lassina Zerbo.