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The country currently known as Burkina Faso was originally a former French colony called Upper Volta, created by colonial administrators in 1919 following a crisis in the administration of the Upper Senegal-Niger territories. In 1932, Upper Volta was dismantled and divided into Mali, Côte d’Ivoire and Niger. It was reconstructed within its territorial limits in 1947. On December 11, 1958, Upper Volta chose the status of an autonomous republic, remaining a member of the Franco-African Community, and the colonizers decided on the 5th to grant it independence. In August 1960, the independence of Upper Volta was officially proclaimed by its first president, Maurice Yaméogo. In our column, we will recall this historic day of August 5 and the difficulties that the young Voltaic nation faced in gaining its independence.
“Today, at midnight, August 5, 1960, in the name of the natural rights of man to liberty, equality and fraternity, I solemnly proclaim the independence of the Republic of Upper Volta. » These words of Maurice Yameogo, read on the broadcast of the National Radio on August 5, 1960, are like an artist-singer expressing with the most beautiful melody the complete joy and pride of a man who has realized the aspiration of any country: that it has the right to self-determination. With this gesture, which he solemnly expresses today on the broadcast, he allows the country to have national and international sovereignty and the right to self-determination.
The leadership of the young nation by Maurice Yaméogo was not a coincidence, but a product of political tensions between the political parties, the Moshi Emirate and the colonial administration. In fact, President Maurice Yaméogo had been the head of state and government since the death of Daniel Uzen Coulibaly on December 9, 1959, and returned to power in December 1960 by a National Assembly controlled by the single party Rassemblement démocratique Africaine (RDA), against the monarchists who mobilized under the leadership of Moogho Naaba Kougri for a constitutional monarchy.
Vaguely independent adventure
The Voltaic family was not ready for independence and many of the elite expressed a desire to remain in the metropolis and patiently develop themselves. Especially since the country did not have any administrators, immediate independence was considered harmful to it. Therefore, Ouezzin Coulibaly warned the Voltaic family during the 1958 referendum that if they said “no”, Upper Volta would be granted independence immediately. The Nazi Boni, for his part, feared that the verdict on the settlers could lead to extermination. As for Maurice Yameogo, he declared in front of the Koudougou circle: “There are people who dare to ask for independence. We don’t even know how to make a box of matches and they want us to be independent. They are enlightened people. We RDA have no use for independence. » Therefore, the entire Upper Volta region voted “yes” and remained within the French community in 1958.
But General de Gaulle was involved in the wars in Algeria and Indochina and feared that the same would happen to other colonies. So he decided not to wait any longer and prepare for the independence of “his” colonies. 1960 was the year of independence for French West Africa. Upper Volta became independent on August 5, 1960.
The way in which Upper Volta gained independence on August 5, 1960, was not to the taste of all Voltaic people. If some expressed their joy and elation on this day, others, on the other hand, found it to be an independence fabricated from scratch by the colonizers in order to keep Upper Volta within France. The dates of independence chosen according to the whim of the colonizers (August 1 for Benin, 3 for Niger, 5 for Upper Volta and 7 for Côte d’Ivoire) did not leave people indifferent. The constitution proposed by Maurice Yameogo to the young country lacked originality and was a copy of the French Fifth Republic. The new national anthem, “Proud Volta”, hardly reflected the reality of the country and sounded like “La Marseillaise”. The new flag, just adopted by the new state, hardly symbolized Upper Volta. The army’s insignia was intact and identical to that of the French army, all confirming the words of Sangoulé Lamizana, who, after seizing power, wondered if the sons and daughters of Upper Volta lacked imagination and genius of their own.
But Maurice Ameogo assumed, on the one hand, the real independence of Upper Volta. He took actions that showed that the new state was sovereign. In fact, he refused to sign the defense agreement, despite pressure from the mainland, and immediately demanded the evacuation of the French base stationed in Bobo-Dioulasso. He also declared the then Minister of the Interior of Upper Volta, Captain Michel Dolanch, persona non grata.
All in all, the country’s acquisition of independence, even if ambiguous, is still a historic date that goes down in history. Despite his disappointment with the way independence was declared, Nazi Boni declared: “The independence imposed on the government by the people (and) the opposition and actually offered by France will be proclaimed by those most ferocious enemies who, today and tomorrow, are ready to destroy it. This is the paradox of life. This is the human comedy. But in whatever form we acquire international sovereignty, it is a positive fact that we must rejoice in…”.
Windekuni Bertrand Ouedraogo
Lefaso.com
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