page_title: Maurice Yaméogo
section_title: Minister of Upper Volta under the Loi Cadre Defferre (1957–1958)
hierarchical_section_title: Maurice Yaméogo / Early political career / Minister of Upper Volta under the Loi Cadre Defferre (1957–1958)
caption_attribution_description: Main market of Fada N'Gourma; city in South-East Burkina Faso (West Africa)
context_page_description: Maurice Yaméogo was the first President of the Republic of Upper Volta, now called Burkina Faso, from 1959 until 1966.
  "Monsieur Maurice" embodied the Voltaic state at the moment of independence. However, his political ascension did not occur without difficulties. As a member of the colonial administration from 1946, Maurice Yaméogo found a place for himself in the busy political landscape of Upper Volta thanks to his skill as a speaker. In May 1957, during the formation of the first Upper Voltaic government instituted under the Loi Cadre Defferre, he joined the coalition government formed by Ouezzin Coulibaly, as minister for agriculture and a member of the Voltaic Democratic Movement. In January 1958, threatened by a vote of censure, Coulibaly enticed Maurice Yaméogo and his allies in the assembly to join the Voltaic Democratic Union-African Democratic Assembly in exchange for promises of promotion within the government. Maurice Yaméogo rose to be his second in command, with the portfolio of the Interior, a position which allowed him to assume the role of interim head of government, following Coulibay's death in September 1958.
context_section_description: On 29 September 1956, PSEMA merged with the PVD-RDA to form the United Democratic Party (PDU). Despite his links with both of these parties, Yaméogo joined a new party in July 1956, the Voltaic Democratic Movement (MDV), founded by Gérard Kango Ouédraogo and the French captain Michel Dorange, in which he took on the role of financial controller. In the territorial elections of 30 March 1957, the MDV list led by Maurice Yaméogo at Koudougou, which included his cousin Denis Yaméogo and the Haitian-Arab Nader Attié scored a surprising victory over the PDU list led by Henri Guissou, winning all six of the seats which were up for election. This victory was certainly due to Yaméogo's "American style campaign," characterised by numerous meetings in the markets.
  As a result of the elections, 70 territorial deputies were elected. The PDU held 39 of them, the MDV had 26 and the MPEA of Nazi Boni had 5. These elections, which followed the entry into force of the Loi Cadre Defferre of 1956, were intended to produce a new local government. Rather than rule alone, the leader of the PDU, Ouezzin Coulibaly chose to establish a coalition government, with seven PDU ministers and five MDV ministers. Maurice Yaméogo took the portfolio of agriculture in the first government, under Yvon Bourges, the last French Governor in Upper-Volta.
  Very quickly, tensions broke out in the PDU. During investigative meetings in September 1957, the former leader of PSEMA, Joseph Conombo, repudiated the affiliation of his party to the RDA under the control of Ouezzin Coulibaly. Conombo left the coalition government with six other deputies in order to re-establish PSEMA. Coulibay on the other hand transformed the PDU into the Voltaic Democratic Union (UDV) and affiliated it with the RDA.  After these events, the UDV-RDA took an absolute majority in the assembly, while an anti-Ouezzin parliamentary group formed in December 1957, consisting of PSEMA, the MPEA and the MDV. Thus, from being a member of government, Yaméogo found himself in the parliamentary opposition. On 17 December, Joseph Conombo submitted a motion to name a new parliamentary group, a motion of no confidence in the government, which passed. Coulibaly refused to resign: the Loi Cadre Defferre explicitly state that in the case of a vote of no confidence, the government "could" resign, not that it "was removed", from office. Upper Volta faced a political crisis.
  In January 1958, Coulibaly resolved the situation by poaching Maurice Yaméogo, who brought the MDV deputies from Koudougou with him (Nader Attié, Gabriel Traoré et Denis Yaméogo) and some other counsellors like Mathias Sorgho. With this new majority, the UDV-RDA established a new government on 22 January 1958. In the new cabinet of 6 February, composed solely of members of UDV-RDA, Yaméogo was promoted to the second highest ranking position in the government, with the strategi position of Minister of the Interior, while his cousin Denis took the portfolio of Labour and Social Affairs. Ouezzin Coulibaly was taken to Paris for health reasons on 28 July 1958 and Yaméogo was placed in charge in his absence. On 4 September 1958, Oezzin Coulibaly died and Maurice Yaméogo assumed the role of acting head of government.
caption: A market in Upper Volta
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