Michel Kafando

Michel Kafando
President of Burkina Faso
Transitional
In office
23 September 2015 – 29 December 2015
Prime Minister Yacouba Isaac Zida
Preceded by Gilbert Diendéré (as Chairman of the National Council for Democracy)
Chérif Sy (Acting)
Succeeded by Roch Marc Christian Kaboré
In office
18 November 2014 – 17 September 2015
Prime Minister Yacouba Isaac Zida
Preceded by Yacouba Isaac Zida
Succeeded by Gilbert Diendéré (as Chairman of the National Council for Democracy)
Chérif Sy (Acting)
Ambassador of Burkina Faso to the United Nations
In office
15 April 1998 – 5 July 2011
President Blaise Compaoré
Preceded by Gaëtan Rimwanguiya Ouédraogo[1]
Succeeded by Der Kogda
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
30 September 1982 – 4 August 1983[2]
Prime Minister Saye Zerbo
Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo
Preceded by Félix Tientarboum
Succeeded by Hama Arba Diallo
Personal details
Born (1942-08-18) 18 August 1942
Ouagadougou, Upper Volta
(now Burkina Faso)[2]
Alma mater University of Bordeaux
Sciences Po
Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies
Paris-Sorbonne University

Michel Kafando (born 18 August 1942) is a Burkinabé diplomat who served as the transitional President of Burkina Faso from 2014[3] 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.[4]

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.

Background

Kafando was born in Ouagadougou. He attained a bachelor's degree in public law from the University of Bordeaux in 1969, a diploma in political studies in 1972 in Paris and another diploma from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva also in 1972. He later gained a PhD in political science at the Sorbonne in 1990. He is married, and has one child.[4]

Diplomatic career

Michel Kafando was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Upper Volta (as Burkina Faso was then known) from 1982 to 1983, becoming the only cabinet member to retain his portfolio after the November 1982 coup of Major Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo. He was also a Vice-President of the United Nations General Assembly in 1982. He headed many delegations to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and was Vice-President of the African Centre for Environmental Protection (an NGO).[4]

He served as Upper Volta's Permanent Representative to the UN and as its Ambassador to Cuba before being appointed as Permanent Representative to the UN for a second time; he presented his credentials to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, on 15 April 1998.[4]

Kafando was President of the United Nations Security Council in September 2008[5] and in December 2009.[6]

Transitional President

Long-time President Blaise Compaore was forced to resign on 31 October 2014 due to unrest related to his moves to eliminate term limits so that he could run for President again. Initially, the military under Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Zida took power, but it faced international pressure to hand over power to civilian authorities. On 17 November 2014, Kafando was appointed as transitional President of Burkina Faso by the designation council.[3] He was sworn in on 18 November 2014,[7] and he appointed Zida as Prime Minister on 19 November.[8] In the transitional government, appointed on 23 November, Kafando held the foreign affairs portfolio.[9][10]

On 19 July 2015, amidst tensions between the military and Prime Minister Zida, Kafando stripped Zida of the defense portfolio and took over the portfolio himself. He also took over the security portfolio, previously held by Zida's ally Auguste Denise Barry.[11] As part of the same reshuffle, he appointed Moussa Nébié to replace himself as Minister of Foreign Affairs.[12]

On 16 September 2015, two days after a recommendation from the National Reconciliation and Reforms Commission to disband the Regiment of Presidential Security (RSP), members of the RSP detained President Kafando and Prime Minister Zida.[13][14] The military chief of staff, Brigadier General Pingrenoma Zagré, called on members of the RSP to lay down their arms, promising in a statement that they would not be harmed if they surrendered peacefully.[15]

Kafando was believed to remain under house arrest until 21 September, when he was reported to have arrived at the residence of the French ambassador.[16] The regular army issued an ultimatum to the RSP to surrender by the morning of 22 September.[17] Kafando was reinstalled as President at a ceremony on 23 September in the presence of ECOWAS leaders.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "Secretary-General Meets with Permanent Representative of Burkina Faso", unmultimedia.org
  2. 1 2 "Diplomatie : Michel Kafando quitte New York après une longue carrière ", lefaso.net
  3. 1 2 "Michel Kafando, Président de la Transition", Burkina24, 17 November 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "New Permanent Representative of Burkina Faso presents credentials", United Nations press release, BIO/3152, 15 April 1998.
  5. ↑ "Press conference by Security Council President", United Nations press release, 3 September 2008.
  6. ↑ "Security Council, in statement, condemns 3 December terrorist attack in Somalia", United Nations press release, SC/9802, 3 December 2009.
  7. ↑ "Kafando sworn in as Burkina Faso transitional president", Reuters, 18 November 2014.
  8. ↑ Mathieu Bonkoungou and Nadoun Coulibaly, "Burkina Faso names army colonel Zida as prime minister", Reuters, 19 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "Le gouvernement de la transition est connu", Lefaso.net, 23 November 2014 (French).
  10. ↑ "Transitional government appointed in Burkina Faso", Reuters, 24 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "Burkina Faso reshuffles govt 3 months before polls", Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 20 July 2015.
  12. ↑ "Burkina Faso reshuffles government 3 months before elections", Reuters, 20 July 2015.
  13. ↑ Ouedraogo, Brahima (16 September 2015). "Military detains Burkina Faso's president, prime minister weeks ahead of landmark vote". U.S. News & World Report. Associated Press. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  14. ↑ Coulibaly, Nadoun; Flynn, Daniel (16 September 2015). "Burkina Faso presidential guard detains cabinet - military sources". Reuters. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  15. ↑ Mathieu Bonkoungou and Nadoun Coulibaly, "Burkina Faso army enters capital to disarm coup leaders", Reuters, 21 September 2015.
  16. ↑ "Burkina Faso army reaches capital to quell coup", BBC News, 22 September 2015.
  17. ↑ "Loyalist troops tell Burkina coup leaders: surrender or face attack", Reuters, 22 September 2015.
  18. ↑ Patrick Fort and Romaric Ollo Hien, "Burkina president resumes power after week-long coup", Agence France-Presse, 23 September 2015.
Political offices
Preceded by
Yacouba Isaac Zida
as Transitional Head of State		 President of Burkina Faso
Transitional
2014–2015 		Succeeded by
Roch Marc Christian Kaboré
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