MILITARY PERSONNELS from Burkina Faso

Top 2

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Burkinabe Military Personnels of all time. This list of famous Burkinabe Military Personnels is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity.

1. Ibrahim Traoré (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 65.80, Ibrahim Traoré is the most famous Burkinabe Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 48 different languages on wikipedia.

Ibrahim Traoré (French: [ibʁaim tʁaɔʁe]; born 14 March 1988) is a Burkinabé military officer and politician who has served as the interim president of Burkina Faso since 2022. Ideologically known for his Pan-Africanist, anti-Western, and anti-Imperialistic views, Traoré has held the rank of captain in the Burkinabé Armed Forces since 2020, and has served as the second leader of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration since 2024. Aged 37, he is currently the third youngest head of state in the world. Born in Kéra, located in western Burkina Faso, Traoré graduated from the University of Ouagadougou in 2009 with a bachelor's degree in science and geology. He shortly joined the Burkina Faso Armed Forces and received military training abroad, reportedly in Morocco and France. Traoré gained experience fighting jihadist insurgents in the country. In 2019, he was deployed to Mali with the United Nations peacekeeping mission (MINUSMA). In September 2022, Traoré led a coup against then-Interim President Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba and successfully ousted him. At the age of 34, Traoré became the country's youngest head of state, surpassing Thomas Sankara and Blaise Compaoré, and also became the world’s youngest head of state. During his tenure, Traoré has increasingly distanced Burkina Faso from France and ECOWAS, particularly by kicking out their troops and has also increasingly aligned Burkina Faso with Russia and the Wagner Group, and as well as Mali and Niger. Traoré has also played a major role in the founding of the Alliance of Sahel States, an alliance consisting of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. While praised for his Nationalist, Pan-Africanist, anti-Western, and anti-Imperialistic views and as well as his charismatic leadership and appeal to young people, Traoré has also been criticised for his authoritarian style of governance, his cracking down on dissent, and his response to the insurgency in the country.

2. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba (b. 1981)

With an HPI of 54.48, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba is the 2nd most famous Burkinabe Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba (French: [pɔl ɑ̃ʁi sɑ̃daɔɡɔ damiba]; born January 1981) is a Burkinabé military officer who served as interim president of Burkina Faso from 31 January 2022 to 30 September 2022, when he was removed in a coup d'état by his own military colleague Ibrahim Traoré. Damiba had come to power just eight months earlier, on 24 January 2022, when he removed president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré in a coup.