On November 25, 1980 Colonel Saye Zerbo overthrew President Sangoule Lamizana of Upper Volta, the country later renamed Burkina Faso, in a military coup that ended Lamizana's long tenure amid labor unrest and economic difficulty. Lamizana had ruled since taking power in a 1966 coup and had overseen periods of both military and civilian government, most recently winning a contested 1978 election. By late 1980 his government faced mounting strikes, particularly by teachers' unions, and economic strain.
On November 25, 1980 Colonel Zerbo led a bloodless military coup that deposed Lamizana and established a Military Committee for Recovery and National Progress. Lamizana was not physically harmed. Zerbo's own rule proved short, and he was himself overthrown in 1982, beginning a rapid succession of coups that would bring Thomas Sankara to power in 1983.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Sangoule Lamizana, overthrown on November 25, 1980 by Colonel Saye Zerbo; he was not physically harmed.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Sangoule Lamizana (president overthrown)
Saye Zerbo (colonel who seized power)
Sources
A list of coups records that on November 25, 1980 Colonel Saye Zerbo overthrew President Sangoule Lamizana in Upper Volta (later Burkina Faso).
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, List of coups and coup attempts by countryopen source ↗
The same list records that Lamizana had been in office since the 1966 coup and had earlier carried out a self-coup on February 8, 1974 against the RDA-led government of Prime Minister Gerard Kango Ouedraogo.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, List of coups and coup attempts by countryopen source ↗
The list further records that Zerbo's own rule was short, as Major Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo overthrew President Saye Zerbo on November 7, 1982, part of the rapid succession of coups in the country.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, List of coups and coup attempts by countryopen source ↗
The succession continued as Captain Blaise Compaore overthrew President Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo on August 4, 1983, replacing him with Captain Thomas Sankara, before Compaore overthrew Sankara in 1987.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, List of coups and coup attempts by countryopen source ↗
Editorial Note
Fate coding: the deposed president Sangoule Lamizana was not physically harmed, matching the dataset. Coding note: the dataset labels this a military coup, accurately, led by Colonel Saye Zerbo against the long-serving Lamizana. Country-name note: at the time of the coup the country was named Upper Volta; it was renamed Burkina Faso in 1984 under Thomas Sankara, so the dataset's Burkina Faso label is anachronistic for 1980 but refers to the same country, recorded here for clarity. Context recorded: the coup came amid teachers' strikes and economic difficulty; Lamizana had ruled since 1966 and had himself taken and held power through earlier coups and a 1974 self-coup. Arc forward: this began a rapid succession of coups (Zerbo overthrown in 1982, Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo in 1983, then Compaore installing Thomas Sankara in 1983, and Compaore overthrowing Sankara in 1987), recorded as documented later context; several of these are separate dataset events. Sourcing note: this batch's confirmable detail comes chiefly from the chronological coup list; the core facts (date, actors, bloodless nature, fate) are consistent across it.
Cross-Reference
Datasets agree. At least two of the three reference datasets we check against carry this event, and none of them disagrees about its date or its result.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Sangoule Lamizana, overthrown on November 25, 1980 by Colonel Saye Zerbo; he was 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
“Upper Volta’s President is Ousted in Coup by a Military Commander,” November 26, 1980
“AROUND THE WORLD; Soldiers Topple Regime In Upper Volta,” November 8, 1982
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →