- Saye Zerbo
Colonel Saye Zerbo (bornAugust 27 ,1932 ) was a President of Upper Volta (nowBurkina Faso ) fromNovember 25 ,1980 toNovember 7 ,1982 . He led a coup in 1980, but was resisted bytrade unions and was overthrown byMaj. Dr.Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo and the Council of Popular Salvation (CSP).Zerbo comes from
Tougan inSourou Province in the western part of the country. He went to school inMali and Saint-Louis,Senegal . Then he joined theFrench military and attended themilitary academy Saint-Cyr. As aparatrooper , Zerbo took part in both theFirst Indochina War as well as theAlgerian War of Independence . After the Upper Volta's independence fromFrance in1960 , he switched into that country's army in1961 .In the military government of
Sangoulé Lamizana , who ruled Upper Volta from1966 , Saye Zerbo wasforeign minister from1974 to1976 . He also held the positions of commander of the regiment in the capitalOuagadougou and director of the militaryintelligence agency .On
November 25 ,1980 , Zerbo staged acoup against President Lamizana, who had been re-elected democratically in1978 , and took on the positions ofhead of state and government. The constitution, which had been introduced in1977 , was suspended and theMilitary Committee of Recovery for National Progress ("Comité Militaire de Redressement pour le Progrès National"; CMPRN) established. The trade unions in the country opposed his seizure of power, although they had supported Zerbo for a long time, and onNovember 7 ,1982 , Saye Zerbo was deposed in another coup d'état. He was succeeded byJean-Baptiste Ouédraogo as the head of theCouncil of Popular Salvation ("Conseil du Salut du Peuple"; CSP).After being deposed, Zerbo was also incarcerated. On
August 4 ,1983 , Ouédraogo was deposed byThomas Sankara . In May1984 , Zerbo and Lamizana were put on trial for various crimes. Zerbo was indicted to 15 years in prison. During his imprisonment, Zerbo converted fromIslam toChristianity . He was released from jail in August1985 . AfterBlaise Compaoré had deposed Sankara he sought Zerbo's advice. His conviction from1984 was annulled onFebruary 18 ,1997 by the supreme court of Burkina Faso.Zerbo's third daughter
Araba Kadiatou Zerbo is married to the formerPrime Minister of Burkina Faso Paramanga Ernest Yonli .External links
* [http://www.lefaso.net/article.php3?id_article=10020&id_rubrique=8 Le faso article about Zerbo]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/burkina-faso.htm global security.org]References
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