Michel Kafando (18 August 1942-) was President of Burkina Faso from 18 November 2014 to 17 September 2015 (succeeding Blaise Compaore and preceding Gilbert Diendere) and from 23 September to 29 December 2015 (succeeding Cherif Sy and preceding Roch Marc Christian Kabore).
Biography[]
Michel Kafando was born in Ouagadougou, Upper Volta in 1942, and he was educated in France. Kafando served as Foreign Minister of Upper Volta from 1982 to 1983, as Upper Volta's permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador to Cuba, President of the United Nations Security Council from 2008 to 2009, and as transitional President of Burkina Faso following the 2015 Burkinabe coup d'etat and Yacouba Isaac Zida's handover of power to a civilian government. In 2015, after attempting to disband the powerful Regiment of Presidential Security, Kafando was briefly overthrown and detained by mutinous soldiers led by Gilbert Diendere, but he was reinstalled as President on 23 September 2015 after the soldiers were persuaded to lay down their arms. He served as President until Roch Marc Christian Kabore assumed office in December, after which he served as UN Envoy to Burundi from May 2017.