Timeline Burkina Faso
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History: http://www.ontheline.org.uk/explore/journey/burkina/history.htm
Travel Guide: http://www.virgin.net/travel/guides/africa/burkina_faso/historyandgovernment.htm
USDS: http://www.state.gov/www/background_notes/burkina_0398_bgn.html
Burkina Faso means “and of honest and upright people.”
The population in 2005 was about 12 million.
(Econ, 9/17/05, p.77)
This landlocked, West African nation, on the edge of the Sahara Desert
was formerly called Upper Volta. The capital is Ouagadougou. In 2000
the country had the world’s lowest literacy rate at 7%.
(WSJ, 3/27/96, p.A-16)(SFC, 12/15/98, p.C3)(SFEC,
7/23/00, Z1 p.2)
1959
Mar, Upper Volta (Burkina Faso) became autonomous
within the French community.
(EWH, 1st ed., p.1170)
1960 Aug 5, Upper Volta, formerly
part of French West Africa, became independent under Maurice Yameogo.
In 1984 it was renamed Burkina Faso.
(WUD, 1994, p.139)(PC, 1992, p.973)(EWH, 4th ed.,
p.1233)
1965 Oct 3, Maurice Yameogo was
elected to a 2nd term in Upper Volta (Burkina Faso).
(EWH, 1st ed., p.1170)
1965 Bishop Paul Zoungrana of
Upper Volta was made Cardinal by Pope Paul VI.
(SFC, 6/6/00, p.A21)
1966 Jan 3, Upper Volta Pres.
Maurice Yameogo was forced to resign by a group of officers. Col.
Sangoule Lamizana became premier.
(EWH, 1st ed., p.1170)
1968-1973 A severe famine hit the Sahel region of
North Africa. Mauritania, Mali, Upper Volta (Burkina Faso) and Niger
were most affected.
(Econ, 8/20/05, p.57)
1969 The 1st Fespaco, a
pan-African festival of cinema and television, opened in Upper Volta
(Burkina Faso).
(Econ, 2/19/05, p.82)
1975 May 25, ECOWAS Treaty1 was
signed. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was
formed in Nigeria with 15 members that included: Benin, Burkina Faso,
Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,
Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
(www.sec.ecowas.int/sitecedeao/english/achievements.htm)
1983 Aug 4, In Burkina Faso Blaise
Compaore played a key role in a coup that brought Thomas Sankara
(1949-1987) to power.
(Econ, 3/21/09,
p.49)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sankara)
1984 Upper Volta was renamed
Burkina Faso.
(WUD, 1994, p.1571)
1987 Oct 15, In Burkina Faso
Blaise Compaore (b.1951), trained in Gadhafi's guerrilla camps, seized
power in a bloody takeover. Libya and Burkina Faso later denied
repeated accusations of gunrunning to West Africa hot spots.
(SFC, 2/19/00, p.A10)(AP,
12/16/02)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaise_Compaor%C3%A9)
1996 Apr 27, A Dutch diplomat,
Arnold Eisma, his wife and two children died of dehydration after
becoming stranded in the remote Pama national park.
(SFC, 5/3/96, A-10)
1996 Dec 5, An African Summit
opened in Burkina Faso. New candidates for the position of UN
Secretary-general were to be considered.
(WSJ, 12/6/96, p.A1)
1997 The film "Kini & Adams"
was by Idrissa Ouedraogo of Burkino Faso.
(SFC, 9/10/97, p.E3)
1997 The Burkina Faso-French film
"Buud Yam" was the Grand Prize winner at the 1997 Pan-African Film
Festival.
(SFEM, 9/28/97, p.17)
1998 Jan, In Burkina Faso David
Ouedraogo, the chauffeur for Francois Compaore, brother of Pres.
Compaore, died from torture injuries inflicted by 2 bodyguards of Pres.
Compaore. Ouedraogo was suspected of stealing $31,000 from Francois. In
2000 the 2 bodyguards were convicted and sentenced to 20 years in
prison.
(SFC, 8/21/00, p.A10)
1998 Sep 16, The UN announced that
the treaty to eliminate anti-personnel land mines will take effect in 6
months. Burkino Faso became the 40th country to ratify the pact.
(SFC, 9/17/98, p.C4)
1998 Nov 30, Britain along with
Lesotho, Burkino Faso, the Ivory Coast and Tajikistan signed a global
treaty for an Int’l. Criminal Court to try war crimes. The accord was
approved in July at conference in Rome and 61 countries had signed on.
The court required 60 countries to pass legislation for ratification.
(SFC, 12/1/98, p.A11)
1998 Dec 13, In Burkina Faso
Norbet Zongo, a prominent journalist and presidential critic, was found
dead in the wreckage of his burned car along with 2 cousins and a
chauffeur in Ouagadougou. His death prompted thousands to take to the
streets accusing Pres. Blaise Compaore’s government of involvement.
Zongo was killed with his brother and 2 others. Zongo had inquired into
the arrest and death of a driver, David Ouedraogo, to Francois
Compaore, the brother of the president and "head of mission to the
presidency." Ouedraogo was accused of stealing $50,000. [see Jan 1998]
(SFC, 12/15/98, p.C3)(SFC, 2/19/00,
p.A10)
2000 Mar, Pres. Blaise Compaore of
Burkina Faso and Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo were reported to have
helped Jonas Savimbi of UNITA obtain arms and fuel in exchange for
diamonds.
(SFC, 4/19/00, p.A12)
2000 Jun 5, Burkina Faso Cardinal
Paul Zoungrana (82) died.
(SFC, 6/6/00, p.A21)
2000 In Burkina Faso Salibo Some
(43) created the Africa’s Sustainable Development Council (ASUDEC) to
help lift villagers out of poverty.
(SFC, 12/13/02, p.K8)
2000 Jul 31, US and British
diplomats accused the Pres. Charles Taylor of Liberia and Pres. Blaise
Compaore of Burkina Faso of trading arms for diamonds and aiding the
rebels in Sierra Leone.
(SFC, 8/1/00, p.A8)
2001 Jan 19, Thousands of people
fled the Ivory Coast for Burkino Faso to escape attacks on foreigners.
As many as 10,000 were arriving each week and others were fleeing to
Mali, Ghana and Niger.
(SFC, 1/20/01, p.A14)
2001 Mar 31, Pres. Blaise Compaore
asked for forgiveness for abuses over his 13-year rule as part of
Burkina Faso’s 1st “National Pardon Day.”
(SSFC, 4/1/01, p.C10)
2001 Apr 26, It was reported that
a meningitis outbreak had killed at least 3,500 people in Africa and
that vaccine had been shipped to Ethiopia and Burkina Faso.
(SFC, 4/26/01, p.A14)
2001 Nov 2, It was reported that
Ibrahim Bah, a Libyan-trained former Senegalese rebel, lived in Burkina
Faso and selected diamond dealers to handle deals in Liberia between
rebels from Sierra Leone and the al Qaeda network.
(SFC, 11/2/01, p.A8)
2002 Feb, The W135 strain of
meningitis from the Middle East was identified for the 1st time in
Africa in Burkina Faso and by Sep some 12,000 people were infected with
1,500 deaths.
(SFC, 9/20/02, p.A12)
2002 Jun 11, Burkina Faso
President Blaise Compaore tightened his grip on power, throwing out all
nine opposition ministers from his Cabinet and cutting the number of
posts from 36 to 31.
(AP, 6/12/02)
2003 Sep 26, Burkina Faso
President Blaise Compaore demanded the elimination of U.S. export
subsidies on cotton.
(AP, 9/27/03)
2003 Oct 1, Burkina Faso arrested
12 people in connection with an alleged coup plot.
(AP, 10/7/03)
2004 Sep 15, Eight French speaking
African countries began retiring over 1 billion in decaying currency
with new CFA francs. Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast,
Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo had until Dec 31 to turn in old bills for
new ones.
(SFC, 9/15/04, p.C8)
2004 Nov 24, Canada’s PM Paul
Martin visited Burkina Faso. Canada is investing about $20 million in a
Basic Education Plan to pump $140 million into building schools across
the country.
(AP, 11/24/04)
2005 Feb 26, Fespaco, the biennial
pan-African festival of cinema and television, opened in Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso.
(Econ, 2/19/05, p.82)
2005 Jun 1, Burkina Faso President
Blaise Compaore opened the 7th summit of Sahel and Sahara countries,
spurring the 21-member body to take a decisive role in shaping
globalization.
(AFP, 6/2/05)
2005 In Burkina Faso the TV sitcom
“Le Nouveau Roymaume d’Abou” captivated Saturday night audiences. It
focused on a good Muslim with 2 wives and numerous children fighting
for his and each other’s attention. The literacy rate in the country
was 12.7%.
(Econ, 11/19/05, p.90)
2006 Mar 22, A ferry carrying 150
passengers sank off the coast of Cameroon, and 23 people were rescued.
The rest were feared dead. The was bound for Gabon from Nigeria with
passengers from Burkina Faso, Nigeria and the Ivory Coast.
(AP, 3/23/06)(SFC, 3/24/06, p.A12)
2006 Burkina Faso sent almost a
third of its exports, mostly cotton, to China.
(Econ, 10/28/06, p.54)
2007 Feb 24, In Burkina Faso the
Fespaco film festival began. Hundreds of films made by Africans and
people of African descent competed for the Yennenga stallion, a golden
statue of a prancing horse.
(Econ, 3/3/07, p.54)
2007 Mar 4, Ivory Coast's Pres.
Laurent Gbagbo signed a peace accord with Guillaume Soro, the country's
main rebel leader, calling for a new government to hold elections by
the year's end, and for the dismantling of a vast buffer zone
separating the two sides. The latest deal is the result of meetings
between the two camps that started in early February under the
oversight of Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore.
(AP, 3/4/07)
2007 Mar 23, The United Nations
said nearly 800 people have died after a meningitis epidemic spread
from Burkina Faso to eight other western African countries since the
start of the year. Benin, Chad, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger,
Nigeria and Togo have also been affected to differing degrees.
(AFP, 3/23/07)
2007 Jul 12, Burkina Faso and
Taiwan renewed a commitment to boost their diplomatic ties during a
visit to the west African nation by Taiwan's Foreign Minister James
Huang.
(AP, 7/13/07)
2007 Nov 27, International experts
convened in Burkina Faso for a three day session to discuss the
prospects for biofuel production in Africa. The conference was
organized by the International Institute for Water and Environmental
Engineering and CIRAD, the French agricultural research centre
international development. Co-organizers included the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West African Economic
and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and the government of Burkina Faso.
(AFP, 11/26/07)
2008 Jan 17, In Burkina Faso
leaders of half a dozen African countries agreed on Ivory Coast's
Philippe-Henri Tacoury-Tabley as the new head of the central bank of
the eight-nation West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA).
(AFP, 1/17/08)
2008 Jan 30, The United Nation's
disaster relief agency announced that a meningitis outbreak that has
claimed some 52 lives in Burkina Faso by mid-month has spread to three
other west African countries. A spike in the number of meningitis cases
has also been reported in Mali, Niger and Nigeria since the end of 2007.
(AFP, 1/31/08)
2008 Feb 21, In Burkina Faso some
200 people were arrested following a 2-day protest against rising
living costs which ended in violent clashes.
(AFP, 2/26/08)
2008 Aug 9, In Burkina Faso heavy
rains caused a mudslide at an illegal gold mine that killed at least 31
people.
(SSFC, 8/10/08, p.A4)
2008 Oct 13, First ladies from
seven west African countries gather in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, for a
conference on ways to end female circumcision, a widespread practice in
the region despite efforts to end it.
(AFP, 10/13/08)
2008 Nov 15, In the West African
nation Burkina Faso a collision between a passenger bus and a truck
killed more than 60 people.
(AP, 11/15/08)
2009 Feb 27, The UN Children's
Fund said 53 million children are being targeted by a mass immunization
drive against polio in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger,
Nigeria, and Togo. Some 844 polio cases were reported in the 8
countries in 2008, 95% of them in Nigeria.
(AFP, 2/27/09)
2009 Mar 14, In Burkina Faso an
overloaded canoe capsized on a reservoir, killing at least 15 women and
children.
(AP, 3/15/09)
2009 Apr 17, In Burkina Faso a
meeting of economy and finance ministers of 14 African nations, all
using a common currency that was pegged to the French franc, started
with a French call to African nations to boost public spending.
(AFP, 4/17/09)
2009 Sep 2, In Burkina Faso 5
people were killed and 150,000 left homeless as heavy rainfall
triggered flooding across West Africa.
(Reuters, 9/2/09)
2009 Sep 22, The UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announced that flash floods and
lighting have claimed 187 lives and affected 635,273 people in west
Africa since the rainy season started in June. This included 103 dead
in Sierra Leone, followed by Ghana (24), Mali (20), Ivory Coast (19),
Burkina Faso (8), Niger (7) and Senegal (6).
(AFP, 9/22/09)
2009 Oct 9, Burkina Faso's
environment minister, at the opening of a special forum on climate
change, said Africa needs 65 billion dollars (44 billion euros) to deal
with the effects of global warming.
(AFP, 10/9/09)
2009 Dec 13, In Burkina Faso
diplomats from the US, the African Union and the EU, met to discuss a
plan to return Guinea to civilian rule. West Africa's regional economic
body called for troops to be sent to Guinea to prevent violence in the
wake of an assassination attempt against the military leader earlier
this month and a bloody massacre in September.
(AP, 12/13/09)
2010 Jan 12, Guinea's wounded
junta leader, Capt. Moussa "Dadis" Camara, arrived in Burkina Faso from
Morocco to recuperate after last month's assassination attempt. One of
his top opponents said the surprise move could help him avoid
prosecution.
(AP, 1/13/10)
2010 Jan 17, In Burkina Faso Capt.
Moussa "Dadis" Camara, Guinea's exiled leader, appealed for tolerance
and reconciliation after he agreed to resign and remain in exile
following a tumultuous one-year rule that culminated in a December
assassination attempt.
(AP, 1/17/10)
2010 Apr 22, In Burkina Faso
Health Minister Seydou Bouda said a strain of meningitis, called X, has
killed 718 people out of 5,118 cases in the West African country since
January.
(AP, 4/23/10)
2010 Jul 9, Aid agency Oxfam
warned that the food crisis gripping the Sahel region of Africa was
reaching disastrous levels and called on governments and the
international community to act now. The crisis stretched across the
region taking in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger and northern Nigeria.
(AFP, 7/9/10)
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