On November 7, 1982 Major Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo overthrew President Saye Zerbo in Upper Volta, the country later renamed Burkina Faso, continuing the rapid succession of coups that would culminate in Thomas Sankara's rise the following year. Zerbo had himself seized power in November 1980 by overthrowing the long-serving President Lamizana, but his military government banned trade-union activity and grew unpopular. On November 7, 1982 a group of officers led by Major Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo removed Zerbo from power and established a new ruling body, the Council for the Salvation of the People.
Zerbo was arrested. The new government was itself unstable, and within a year Captain Blaise Compaore would overthrow Ouedraogo and install Captain Thomas Sankara.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Saye Zerbo, overthrown on November 7, 1982 by Major Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo; he was arrested.
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Saye Zerbo (president overthrown and arrested)
Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo (major who seized power)
Sources
A list of coups records that on November 7, 1982 Major Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo overthrew President Saye Zerbo in Upper Volta (later Burkina Faso).
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, List of coups and coup attempts by countryopen source ↗
The same list records that Saye Zerbo had himself taken power on November 25, 1980 by overthrowing President Sangoule Lamizana.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, List of coups and coup attempts by countryopen source ↗
The list further records that a failed coup attempt against President Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo took place on February 28, 1983, before Captain Blaise Compaore overthrew Ouedraogo on August 4, 1983, replacing him with Captain Thomas Sankara.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, List of coups and coup attempts by countryopen source ↗
Blaise Compaore later overthrew Thomas Sankara on October 15, 1987, continuing the succession of coups that ran through Upper Volta and then Burkina Faso.
SOURCE REVIEWEDWikipedia, List of coups and coup attempts by countryopen source ↗
Editorial Note
Fate coding: the deposed president Saye Zerbo was arrested, matching the dataset's arrested-or-jailed fate. Coding note: the dataset labels this a military coup, accurately, led by Major Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo against Zerbo. Arc link: this connects directly to the November 25, 1980 coup by which Zerbo had taken power from Lamizana (enriched in batch 34); the same military that Zerbo led now removed him. Country-name note: at the time 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 1982 but refers to the same country, recorded for clarity. Arc forward: Ouedraogo's government was itself short-lived, surviving a February 1983 coup attempt before Captain Blaise Compaore overthrew it in August 1983 and installed Captain Thomas Sankara, who was in turn overthrown and killed by Compaore in 1987; these are documented later events, several of them separate dataset entries. Sourcing note: the confirmable detail this turn comes chiefly from the chronological coup list; the core facts (date, actors, 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 Saye Zerbo, overthrown on November 7, 1982 by Major Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo; he was arrested..
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; arrested or jailed. 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
“Soldiers Topple Regime in Upper Volta,” November 8, 1982
“Coup is Reported in Upper Volta,” August 5, 1983
“13 Killed in Coup in Upper Volta,” August 6, 1983
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 →