On February 8, 1974 General Sangoule Lamizana, the head of state of Upper Volta, carried out a coup against the civilian political order he had earlier restored, suspending the 1970 constitution, dissolving the National Assembly, and banning political parties to rule directly with the army amid a paralyzing feud between the civilian politicians. Lamizana had first taken power in a 1966 coup, then overseen a return to constitutional civilian government in 1970 under a mixed civil-military arrangement. By early 1974 the rivalry between the prime minister, Gerard Kango Ouedraogo, and the National Assembly president, Joseph Ki-Zerbo and the Sangoule faction, together with economic hardship and the Sahel drought, had deadlocked the government.
On February 8, 1974 Lamizana, backed by the army, dissolved the assembly, suspended the constitution, dismissed the government, and reassumed full powers, forming a government of national renewal dominated by the military. The move was bloodless and the displaced civilian leaders were not physically harmed. Lamizana continued to rule until he was himself overthrown in 1980.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: The civilian government (Prime Minister Gerard Kango Ouedraogo) and the constitutional order, displaced by Lamizana's February 8, 1974 coup; the civilian leaders were not physically harmed.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Sangoule Lamizana (head of state who seized full powers)
Gerard Kango Ouedraogo (prime minister displaced)
The National Assembly (dissolved in the coup)
Sources
A list of coups records the Upper Volta (Burkina Faso) events in which Sangoule Lamizana, who had led the January 1966 coup replacing Maurice Yameogo, remained the central figure through the 1970s, reasserting military control in 1974 before the later coups of 1980 and after.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, List of coups and coup attempts by countryopen source ↗
Sangoule Lamizana ruled Upper Volta from the January 1966 coup that ousted President Maurice Yameogo, oversaw a return to civilian constitutional government in 1970, and in February 1974 again suspended the constitution and dissolved the National Assembly to restore direct military-backed rule amid a deadlock between the civilian politicians.
Lamizana's 1974 intervention suspended the 1970 constitution and the civilian government led by Prime Minister Gerard Kango Ouedraogo, replacing it with a government of national renewal dominated by the military, amid the economic strain of the Sahel drought and the paralysis of the civilian institutions.
Lamizana continued as head of Upper Volta after the 1974 return to army rule until he was himself overthrown in a November 1980 coup led by Colonel Saye Zerbo, part of the chain of coups that preceded Thomas Sankara's 1983 rise.
Arc link: this February 1974 coup connects to Lamizana's own January 3, 1966 coup against Yameogo (enriched in batch 17); it is Lamizana suspending the civilian constitutional order that he had helped restore in 1970. Fate coding: the deposed civilian leaders, chiefly Prime Minister Gerard Kango Ouedraogo, were not physically harmed in the bloodless takeover, matching the dataset fate. Coding note: the dataset labels this a military coup; it was in effect an army-backed suspension of the constitution by the sitting head of state, driven by the deadlock between civilian factions and the Sahel drought crisis. Arc forward: Lamizana was overthrown by Saye Zerbo in 1980, one of the coups leading to Thomas Sankara's 1983 takeover and the 1984 renaming of the country to Burkina Faso, separate later events. Sourcing note: some background detail is drawn from general biographical and country sources; the core fact of the February 8, 1974 constitutional suspension is confirmed.
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: The civilian government (Prime Minister Gerard Kango Ouedraogo) and the constitutional order, displaced by Lamizana's February 8, 1974 coup; the civilian leaders were not physically harmed..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
“Army Takes Over in Upper Volta; President Stays,” February 9, 1974
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