The Most Famous
POLITICIANS from Burkina Faso
This page contains a list of the greatest Burkinabe Politicians. The pantheon dataset contains 15,577 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 67.23, Thomas Sankara is the most famous Burkinabe Politician. His biography has been translated into 69 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 served as President of Burkina Faso from his coup in 1983 to his assassination in 1987. He is viewed by supporters as a charismatic and iconic figure of the revolution, and a powerful advocate for Pan-Africanism, and workers rights, while his critics condemn his human rights abuses and the authoritarian government he led. 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. Aged 33, Sankara became the President of the Republic of Upper Volta and launched an unprecedented series of social, ecological, and economic reforms. Sankara also renamed the country from the French colonial name Upper Volta to Burkina Faso ('Land of Incorruptible People'), with its people being called Burkinabé ('upright people'). His foreign policies were 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 domestic revenues, 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 vaccinating program against meningitis, yellow fever and measles. His government also focused on building schools, health centres, water reservoirs, and infrastructure projects and he combated desertification of the Sahel by planting over 10 million trees. Moreover, he outlawed female genital mutilation, forced marriages and polygamy. Sankara set up Cuban-inspired Committees for the Defence of the Revolution. He set up Popular Revolutionary Tribunals to prosecute public officials charged with political crimes and corruption, considering such elements of the state counter-revolutionaries. This led to criticism by Amnesty International for human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions and arbitrary detentions of political opponents. Sankara’s revolutionary programmes for African self-reliance made him an icon to many of Africa's poverty-stricken nations, and Sankara remained popular with a considerable majority of his country's citizens, although some of his policies alienated elements of the former ruling class, including the 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, and in 2021 he was formally charged by a military tribunal for the murder of Sankara.
2. Blaise Compaoré (1951 - )
With an HPI of 61.16, Blaise Compaoré is the 2nd most famous Burkinabe Politician. His biography has been translated into 59 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, whereupon he 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 also the longest-serving president of Burkina Faso.
3. Roch Marc Christian Kaboré (1957 - )
With an HPI of 58.73, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré is the 3rd most famous Burkinabe Politician. His biography has been translated into 51 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 (1942 - )
With an HPI of 57.20, 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 54.88, Maurice Yaméogo is the 5th most famous Burkinabe Politician. His biography has been translated into 30 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. Sangoulé Lamizana (1916 - 2005)
With an HPI of 53.08, Sangoulé Lamizana is the 6th most famous Burkinabe Politician. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.
Aboubakar Sangoulé Lamizana (31 January 1916 – 26 May 2005) was an Upper Voltese military officer who served as the President of Upper Volta (since 1984 renamed Burkina Faso), in power from 3 January 1966, to 25 November 1980. He held the additional position of Prime Minister from 8 February 1974, to 7 July 1978.
7. Saye Zerbo (1932 - 2013)
With an HPI of 51.62, Saye Zerbo is the 7th most famous Burkinabe Politician. His biography has been translated into 20 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).
8. Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo (1942 - )
With an HPI of 50.20, Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo is the 8th most famous Burkinabe Politician. His biography has been translated into 18 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.
9. Gilbert Diendéré (1960 - )
With an HPI of 45.08, Gilbert Diendéré is the 9th most famous Burkinabe Politician. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Gilbert Diendéré (French pronunciation: [ʒil.bɛʁ djɛn.de.ʁe]; born c. 1960) is a Burkinabé military officer and the Chairman of the National Council for Democracy, the military junta that briefly seized power in Burkina Faso in the September 2015 coup d'état. He was a long-time aide to President Blaise Compaoré, serving as commander of the Regiment of Presidential Security (RSP) during Compaoré's rule. He was appointed as chairman of the junta on 17 September 2015. Diendéré currently serves a prison sentence for his role in the 1987 killing of Thomas Sankara and the 1990 killing of Dabo Boukary.
10. Yacouba Isaac Zida (1965 - )
With an HPI of 44.66, Yacouba Isaac Zida is the 10th most famous Burkinabe Politician. His biography has been translated into 24 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.
Pantheon has 14 people classified as politicians born between 1916 and 1965. Of these 14, 10 (71.43%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living politicians include Blaise Compaoré, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, and Michel Kafando. The most famous deceased politicians include Thomas Sankara, Maurice Yaméogo, and Sangoulé Lamizana.
Living Politicians
Go to all Rankings
Blaise Compaoré
1951 - Present
HPI: 61.16
Roch Marc Christian Kaboré
1957 - Present
HPI: 58.73
Michel Kafando
1942 - Present
HPI: 57.20
Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo
1942 - Present
HPI: 50.20
Gilbert Diendéré
1960 - Present
HPI: 45.08
Yacouba Isaac Zida
1965 - Present
HPI: 44.66
Luc-Adolphe Tiao
1954 - Present
HPI: 42.34
Paul Kaba Thieba
1959 - Present
HPI: 41.46
Tertius Zongo
1957 - Present
HPI: 38.86
Paramanga Ernest Yonli
1956 - Present
HPI: 38.15
Deceased Politicians
Go to all RankingsThomas Sankara
1949 - 1987
HPI: 67.23
Maurice Yaméogo
1921 - 1993
HPI: 54.88
Sangoulé Lamizana
1916 - 2005
HPI: 53.08
Saye Zerbo
1932 - 2013
HPI: 51.62
Which Politicians were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 4 most globally memorable Politicians since 1700.
