Burkina Faso 1998

Burkina Faso Capital

In 1998, Burkina Faso was a West African nation located between Mali and Niger. It had a population of around 11 million people and its capital was Ouagadougou. The official language of Burkina Faso was French but many other local languages were also spoken. The economy of Burkina Faso was largely based on agriculture, mining and services. The government was a semi-presidential republic with an elected president as the head of state. In 1998, the President of Burkina Faso was Blaise Compaore. Although the country still faced many challenges such as poverty, corruption and inadequate infrastructure, there were signs that progress was being made towards a more prosperous future. In particular, Burkina Faso had seen significant economic growth in recent years due to increased foreign investment in the country’s agricultural sector which had led to increased employment opportunities across the country. See dentistrymyth for Burkina Faso in the year of 2015.

Yearbook 1998

Burkina Faso. According to Countryaah, the capital of Burkina Faso is Ouagadougou. Ten opposition parties joined forces in February in a coalition, the FUDR, demanding that an independent election commission be formed to oversee the November presidential election. In March, President Blaise Compaoré approached opposition politician Ernest Nongma Ouédraogo, party leader of the Bloc socialiste burkinabè (BSB). Ouédrago was sentenced in 1995 to six months imprisonment for insulting President Compaoré and was therefore not allowed to take part in the 1997 parliamentary elections.

Most November 15 presidential elections were boycotted by most opposition parties, who claimed that the electoral system was a barrier to free and honest elections. The two opposition candidates running for election did not pose a threat to President Compaoré. He received over 87% of the vote and thus retains power for another seven years. According to the Election Commission, about 56% voted, which was over twice the previous presidential election in 1991. Foreign observers said they were satisfied with the election, but local observer groups and opposition representatives accused the regime of electoral fraud.

  • Abbreviationfinder: What does BFA stand for in geography? Here, this 3 letter acronym refers to the country of Burkina Faso.

December

Kaboré promises to work for national reconciliation

December 28th

Roch Marc Christian Kaboré is sworn in for his second term as president. He promises to work for reconciliation, peace and security. He admits that the country is facing major problems, not least due to increasing jihadist violence. He says that in the coming months he will start broad consultations to find a way to national reconciliation. Several opposition politicians, as well as ten African heads of state, will attend the ceremony.

The Constitutional Court confirms Kaboré’s election victory

December 18

The Constitutional Court confirms Roch Marc Christian Kaboré’s victory in the presidential election. According to the court, he received 57 percent of the votes, which is slightly lower than in the preliminary result.

November

Diabré congratulates President Kaboré

28 November

President Kaboré writes on Twitter that opposition leader Zéphirin Diabré has now congratulated him on his election victory. Diabré and his party UPC have previously said that they should appeal the result, but write on their website that they will not do so as they do not want to create more concern in the situation the country is in now.

Kaboré wins presidential election but is accused of cheating

26 November

President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré wins with clear figures in the presidential election, according to preliminary figures. According to the election commission Ceni, he has so far received almost 58 percent of the vote, Eddie Komboigo from the old governing party CDP gets just over 15 percent, while the third UPC leader Zéphirin Diabré receives just over 12 percent. However, turnout is low, just under 51 percent. Earlier this week, opposition politicians threatened to reject the result, in an election that they said was fraught with irregularities. Their complaints include polling stations that have opened late or not at all, how the ballot papers have been handled and arbitrary changes to constituencies. The parties that support Kaboré believe that the problems that have arisen have affected everyone equally and that they are unlikely to affect the outcome of the election. They urge all parties to respect the result. However, President Kabaoré is trying to meet the opposition by offering a dialogue with them. According to Ceni, about 350,000 people have not been able to vote in the election due to unrest. A delegation with representatives of the UN,The African Union (AU) and the West African cooperation organization Ecowas are in the country and for talks with all parties. Kaboré’s party MPP will also be the largest party with 56 seats in the parliamentary elections held at the same time, but will not succeed in gaining its own majority in the National Assembly. However, the MPP is expected to receive support from NTD, which came in third place with 13 seats and several other small parties, and thus has over 90 of the 127 seats. Both the CDC and the UPC, which were previously the largest opposition party, made a poor choice and received 20 and 12 seats respectively. At the same time, there are reports that five people from self-defense groups assisting the country’s security forces against jihadist groups were killed a few days earlier by armed men in the village of Pelhoure in the northern part of the country. Several people are still missing.

Quiet choice, but not everyone can vote

November 22

The presidential and parliamentary elections are being held as planned in Burkina Faso. It is largely calm, but due to the security situation, it is impossible to hold elections in all parts of the country. Before the election, it is said that at least 400,000 voters, about seven percent of the electorate, will not have any opportunity to vote. Even more are likely to be affected, as around one million people have been forced to flee the violence. Some polling stations in eastern and northern Burkina Faso that have planned to stay open are forced to close early due to threats from jihadist groups. For the first time, Burkinis living abroad will also be able to vote. President Kaboré has gone to the polls on promises to improve security in the country, free care for all children under the age of five and better roads. He is believed to face his strongest opposition from Zéphirin Diabré and Eddie Komboïgo, from the opposition parties UPC and CPC respectively. Both opposition politicians claim that cheating took place during the election and that they will file a formal complaint against this. However, they do not present any evidence for their allegations. Preliminary results in the presidential election are expected early next week.

14 soldiers are killed in ambush

November 10

Fourteen soldiers are killed in an ambush in the northern province of Oudalan, which the government suspects militant Islamists are behind. Another eight soldiers were injured in the attack. According to a source quoted by the news agency Reuters, 10 of the attackers were killed in the ensuing fighting. Both the Islamic State in Greater Sahara (ISGS) and the Group in Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM, or in Arabic Nusra al-Islam wal-Muslimin) take on the act. The attack leads to President Kaboré interrupting his election campaign for two days. Around 1,200 people are believed to have been killed and one million have been forced to flee since the Islamist violence escalated in the autumn of 2015.

Kaboré launches the election campaign

November 5

President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré promises to create peace in Burkina Faso when he begins his election campaign with an election rally in front of about 25,000 spectators in the city of Bobo-Dioulasso. At the same time, he acknowledges the great social problems that the country has. He faces twelve other candidates (another nine had applied but were not approved by the Election Commission). His main challenger looks to be the opposition party UPC leader Zéphirin Diabré and Eddie Komboigo of the CDP, the party of former president Blaise Compaoré. Due to the uneasy situation, according to the Constitutional Council, the presidential and parliamentary elections will not be able to be held in up to one-fifth of the country. In September, Parliament passed a law allowing elections to be approved even if not all Burkinis will be able to vote.

Burkina Faso Capital