Roch Marc Christian Kaboré

Roch Marc Christian Kaboré
President of Burkina Faso
Incumbent
Assumed office 29 December 2015
Prime Minister	Paul Kaba Thieba
Preceded by	Michel Kafando (Transitional)
2nd Prime Minister of Burkina Faso
In office 22 March 1994 – 6 February 1996
President	Blaise Compaoré
Preceded by	Youssouf Ouédraogo
Succeeded by	Kadré Désiré Ouedraogo
Personal details
Born	25 April 1957 Ouagadougou, French Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso)
Political party	Organization for Popular Democracy – Labour Movement (Before 1996) Congress for Democracy and Progress (1996-2014) People's Movement for Progress (2014–present)
Alma mater	University of Burgundy

Roch Marc Christian Kaboré (born 25 April 1957) is a Burkinabé politician and the current President of Burkina Faso, entering office in 2015. Previously he served as the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso between 1994 to 1996 and President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso from 2002 to 2012. He also served as President of the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP). In January 2014, he left the ruling CDP and founded a new opposition party, the People's Movement for Progress.

He was elected as President of Burkina Faso 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.

Early years

Kaboré was born in Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso. He attended school from 1962 to 1968, when he received his CPS (Certificate of Primary School). On completing this basic education certificate, he attended the Collège Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, a selective school in Ouagadougou. He studied there from 1968 to 1975, passing his BEPC or General Certificate ('O' Level) in 1972 and his baccalauréat ('A' level) in 1975. He went on to study economics at the University of Dijon, majoring in business administration. There, he completed his BA in 1979 and his Master's in 1980.^[1]

Career

Banking career

Kaboré, like his father, Charles Bila Kaboré (who was a government minister under President Maurice Yaméogo), worked as a banker for the International Bank of Burkina (BIB).^[2] He was eventually promoted to head Burkina Faso's largest bank during the presidency of Thomas Sankara.^[2] In 1984, aged 27, he was named the General Director of the BIB; he remained in that post until September 1989, when he was appointed to the government.^[3]

Political career

He served in the government of Burkina Faso as a Minister, was a Special Adviser of the President, and has been a Deputy in the National Assembly.^[4] He became Prime Minister in 1994. When the Congress for Democracy and Progress was formed in early February 1996, Kaboré resigned as Prime Minister and became the new ruling party's First Vice-President, as well as Special Adviser at the Presidency.^[5]

On 6 June 2002, he was elected as President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso, succeeding Mélégué Maurice Traoré.^[6]

Function	Period
Minister of Transports and Communications	21 September 1989
Minister of State	16 February 1992
Member of the Parliament Representing of the Kadiogo Region for the ODP/MT (now the CDP Party)	24 May 1992
Minister of State for Finance and Plan	From 19 June 1992 to 3 September 1993
Minister of State	From 3 September 1993 to 20 March 1994
Prime Minister	20 March 1994
Special Advisor of the President of Burkina Faso	From February 1996 to June 1997
Elected as a member of the National Assembly for the CDP Party	11 May 1997
Elected as the National Secretary of the CDP Party	August 1999
Elected as President of the National Assembly	6 June 2002[6]
Elected President of the CDP Party	August 2003
Elected President of Burkina Faso	November 2015

In the May 2007 parliamentary election, Kaboré was re-elected to the National Assembly as the first candidate on the CDP's national list. Following the election, the National Assembly again elected Kaboré as its President. He received 90 votes, while Norbert Tiendrébéogo received 13; there were seven invalid votes.^[7]

Resignation from the CDP

Kaboré, along with a number of other prominent figures in the CDP, announced his resignation from the party on 6 January 2014. Those who resigned said that the party was being run in an undemocratic and damaging manner, and they expressed opposition to plans to amend the constitution to eliminate term limits, which would allow President Blaise Compaoré to stand for re-election in 2015.^[8] On 25 January 2014, a new opposition party led by Kaboré, the People's Movement for Progress (Mouvement du Peuple pour le Progrès, MPP), was founded.^[9][10]

Presidency

At an MPP convention held at the Ouagadougou Palais des Sports on 4–5 July 2015, Kaboré was officially confirmed as the MPP candidate for the presidential elections due to be held on 29 November 2015.^[11][12]

In the election, held on 29 November 2015, Kaboré won the election in the first round of voting, receiving 53.5% of the vote against 29.7% for the second place candidate, Zephirin Diabré.^[13] He was sworn in as President on 29 December 2015.^[14] He appointed Paul Kaba Thieba, an economist, as Prime Minister on 7 January 2016.^[15] The composition of the new government was announced on 13 January, with Kaboré personally taking charge of the ministerial portfolio for defense and veteran affairs.^[16]

References

1. An.bf
2. Allafrica,com, Editorial:Burkina Faso: The "People's Victory" - President-Elect Kaboré and the Democratic Road Ahead for Burkina Faso, By Brian J. Peterson is Associate Professor of History, Union College, New York, 4 December, 2015
3. Petiteacademie.gov.bf
4. Africatime.com
5. "Feb 1996 – New government – Transformation of ruling party", Keesing's Record of World Events, volume 42, February 1996, Burkina, page 40,937.
6. "RAPPORT DE LA MISSION D'OBSERVATION DE L'ÉLECTION PRÉSIDENTIELLE DU 13 NOVEMBRE 2005" (PDF) (in French). Democratie.francophonie.org.
7. List of candidates elected to the National Assembly in 2007, National Assembly website (French).
8. "Burkina: vague de démissions au sein du parti de Compaoré", Agence France-Presse, 6 January 2014 (French).
9. "Roch Marc Christian Kaboré à la tête d'un nouveau parti d'opposition", Jeune Afrique, 26 January 2014 (French).
10. "Blaise wants compromise", Africa Confidential, volume 55, number 3, 7 February 2014.
11. "Burkina: R.M. Christian Kaboré investi candidat pour la présidentielle", Radio France Internationale, 6 July 2015 (French).
12. "Burkina Faso: Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, MPP's presidential candidate for 2015 elections", The Africa Report, 8 July 2015.
13. Mathieu Bonkoungou and Nadoun Coulibaly, "Kabore wins Burkina Faso presidential election", Reuters, 1 December 2015.
14. "Burkina Faso swears in new president, capping transition", Agence France-Presse, 29 December 2015.
15. "Burkina Faso's president names economist as prime minister", Reuters, 7 January 2016.
16. "Burkina Faso president takes defence portfolio in new cabinet", Agence France-Presse, 13 January 2016.

External links

• Media related to Roch Marc Christian Kaboré at Wikimedia Commons