Coup Atlas Research Database
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43901082022ConspiracyMilitary coup

Burkina Faso, 2022 — military coup conspiracy

Burkina Faso (BFA)West Africa, AfricaJanuary 8, 2022

Event Summary

This entry is coded 8 January 2022, in the period of alleged plotting and arrests that preceded the 24 January 2022 coup that overthrew President Roch Marc Christian Kabore of Burkina Faso. In early to mid January 2022, amid deep discontent in the armed forces over the government's failure to contain a jihadist insurgency, a mood worsened by the November 2021 Inata base attack in which dozens of gendarmes who had reportedly run out of food were killed, the Kabore government moved against military critics. Notably, Lieutenant-Colonel Emmanuel Zoungrana was arrested on 14 January 2022 over an alleged plot to destabilize the government and his criticism of security policy.

This unrest culminated on 24 January 2022, when Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba and his Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration deposed Kabore, detained him, and dissolved the government, parliament, and constitution. The 8 January 2022 coding sits in this pre-coup climate of alleged conspiracy and arrests, with the discrete Zoungrana arrest days later and the successful takeover on 24 January.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: Kabore's government arrested alleged plotters in January but was overthrown on 24 January 2022
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
President Roch Marc Christian Kabore (target)
Lieutenant-Colonel Emmanuel Zoungrana (arrested 14 Jan)
Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba (later coup leader)

Sources

Prior to the January 2022 coup, unrest manifested in arrests of vocal military critics, including Lieutenant-Colonel Emmanuel Zoungrana, detained on 14 January 2022 for alleged destabilization attempts and criticism of the government's ineffective security policies.
SOURCE REVIEWED Grokipedia: January 2022 Burkina Faso coup d'etat open source ↗
Discontent among security forces had been growing over the lack of support, exacerbated by reports that security forces at a military base in Inata had run out of food in the weeks before they were attacked in November 2021, an attack that killed 49 military police officers and four civilians.
SOURCE REVIEWED House of Commons Library: Burkina Faso, Second coup of 2022 open source ↗
On 24 January 2022 the military overthrew Kabore and seized power, with coup leader Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba becoming head of the military-led Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration that replaced the government, blaming Kabore's failure to halt the jihadist insurgency.
SOURCE REVIEWED House of Commons Library: Burkina Faso, Second coup of 2022 open source ↗
Several hours after gunfire erupted at the presidential residence and military barracks on 24 January, President Kabore was reported detained by soldiers, and the military announced on television that he had been deposed and that the parliament, government, and constitution had been dissolved.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia: January 2022 Burkina Faso coup d'etat open source ↗

Editorial Note

Coded 8 Jan 2022 sits in the pre-coup plotting/arrests period (Zoungrana arrested 14 Jan; the successful Damiba coup, a separate non-Conspiracy event, was 24 Jan). Verified as the January 2022 pre-coup conspiracy climate. Fourth Burkina Faso record in the run (after Dec 1989, Oct 2003, Oct 2016).

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:

Cline Center id
43901082022

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Kabore's government arrested alleged plotters in January but was overthrown on 24 January 2022.

Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; 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
Open dataset DOI ↗
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

BBC Monitoring

“Burkina Faso press criticise failed coup attempt,” January 12, 2022

The Economist

“Small bands of mercenaries extend Russia’s reach in Africa; Russia and Africa,” January 15, 2022

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 →

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