Jean-Baptiste Philippe Ouédraogo (; born 30 June 1942), also referred to by his initials JBO, is a Burkinabé physician and retired military officer who served as President of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) from 8 November 1982 to 4 August 1983. He has since mediated a few national political disputes and operates a clinic in Somgandé.
Ouédraogo received his early education in Upper Volta before joining the Upper Voltan Army and studying medicine abroad. After working in healthcare, he was appointed chief medical officer of the Ouagadougou military camp. He participated in the November 1982 coup d'état and shortly thereafter assumed the presidency. More ideologically moderate than most of his comrades, Ouédraogo did not command much popular support and governed the country amid an unstable political climate. A protracted dispute with Prime Minister Thomas Sankara resulted in his removal from power in a coup in August 1983 and imprisonment. He was released in 1985 and resumed medical work. He opened a clinic in Somgandé in 1992, which he still operates. In the 2010s, he acted as a mediator between opposing political factions.
Early life and education
Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo was born on 30 June 1942 in Kaya, French West Africa, to a Mossi family. He started his education at the École Primaire Catholique de Bam, later attending the minor seminary of Pabré before completing his secondary education at the Lycée de Philippe-Zinda-Kaboré de Ouagadougou. He studied medicine at the University of Abidjan and the School of Naval Medicine in Bordeaux, graduating from the latter in 1974. He then took courses at the University of Strasbourg, with a focus in paediatrics. Ouédraogo finished his studies with a doctor of medicine, and degrees in sports medicine and in paediatrics and child welfare.
Ouédraogo became the first head of the paediatrics department at the Centre hospitalier universitaire Yalgado-Ouédraogo in Ouagadougou, serving there from 1976 until 1977. Afterwards he interned at a hospital in Mulhouse until 1981. He married a school teacher, Bernadette, and had three children with her, all of whom became physicians.
Military career and presidency
Early military career
Ouédraogo was commissioned as a second lieutenant and medic into the Upper Voltan Army in October 1972. In October 1979 he was promoted to médicin-commandant (equivalent to major). Three years later he was appointed chief medical officer of the new Ouagadougou military base, Camp Militaire de Gounghin.
1982 coup and assumption of presidency
On 7 November 1982 Ouédraogo participated in a military coup which ousted President of Upper Volta Saye Zerbo. He and his fellow military officers then formed the Conseil de Salut du Peuple (CSP). Two days later the council elected him President as a compromise choice between the leftist radicals and conservatives. He was the first Mossi head of state since Maurice Yaméogo. According to Ouédraogo, Captain Thomas Sankara was supposed to take power but withdrew at the last minute, leading other officers to choose him to assume the presidency due to his senior rank though, in his words, "against my will". Unlike Sankara, he lacked political experience and popular support, and was quickly regarded by the leftist members of the CSP as conservative and sympathetic to policies of France. Ouédraogo thought of his opponents as "hard-core Marxists" and maintained that he was a "liberal and sincere democrat". Nevertheless, the media viewed Ouédraogo and Sankara as united in goals and dubbed them "Siamese twins". Shortly after taking power, Ouédraogo told the foreign diplomatic corps in Upper Volta that the new government would uphold a non-aligned foreign policy, respect its international agreements, and defend its territory with "intransigence".
On 21 November Ouédraogo declared that the CSP would restore a constitutional, civilian regime in two years time. Five days later the CSP installed a formal government. Ouédraogo was the only soldier in the cabinet and, in addition to his role as President, was made Minister of National Defence and Veterans Affairs. On the whole the CSP exercised true control of the government while Ouédraogo served as little more than a figurehead. The freedoms of labour unions and the press, having been restricted under Zerbo's reign, were restored by the new administration. Ouédraogo attended Mogho Naba Kougri's funeral in December and placed a wreath at the Mossi leader's coffin. The CSP elected Sankara as Prime Minister in January 1983, in effect instituting a power counterbalance to Ouédraogo.