Roch Marc Christian Kaboré


Roch Marc Christian Kaboré is a Burkinabé politician and banker and the President of Burkina Faso, in office since 2015. Previously he served as the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso between 1994 and 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. In January 2014, he left the ruling CDP and joined 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, then called Upper Volta. He attended school from 1962 to 1968, when he received his CPS. 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 in 1972 and his baccalauréat 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.
Kaboré met his future wife, Sika Bella Kaboré, while both were studying in France. The couple married in 1982 and have three children.

Career

Banking career

Kaboré, like his father, Charles Bila Kaboré, worked as a banker for the International Bank of Burkina. He was eventually promoted to head Burkina Faso's largest bank during the presidency of Thomas Sankara. 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.

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. 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.
On 6 June 2002, he was elected as President of the National Assembly of Burkina Faso, succeeding Mélégué Maurice Traoré.
FunctionPeriod
Minister of Transports and Communications21 September 1989
Minister of State16 February 1992
Member of the Parliament Representing of the Kadiogo Region for the ODP/MT 24 May 1992
Minister of State for Finance and PlanFrom 19 June 1992 to 3 September 1993
Minister of StateFrom 3 September 1993 to 20 March 1994
Prime Minister20 March 1994
Special Advisor of the President of Burkina FasoFrom February 1996 to June 1997
Elected as a member of the National Assembly for the CDP Party11 May 1997
Elected as the National Secretary of the CDP PartyAugust 1999
Elected as President of the National Assembly6 June 2002
Elected President of the CDP PartyAugust 2003
Elected President of Burkina FasoNovember 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.

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. On 25 January 2014, a new opposition party led by Kaboré, the People's Movement for Progress, was founded.

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.
In the election of 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. He was sworn in as President on 29 December 2015. He appointed Paul Kaba Thieba, an economist, as Prime Minister on 7 January 2016. 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. Jean-Claude Bouda, who previously served as Minister of Youth, was appointed on 20 February 2017 to take over from Kaboré as Minister of Defense.