Henri Zongo

{{Short description|Minister of Economic Promotion, last person executed in Burkina Faso (died 1989)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Henri Zongo

| office = Minister of Economic Promotion

| president = Thomas Sankara
Blaise Compaoré

| term_start = 4 August 1983

| term_end = 19 September 1989

| successor = Thomas Sanon

| office2 = Sports Minister of Upper Volta

| president2 = Thomas Sankara

| term_start2 =

| term_end2 =

| birth_date =

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{Death date|1989|9|19|df=y}}

| death_place = Burkina Faso

| death_cause = Execution by firing squad

| party =

| allegiance = 20px Burkina Faso

| rank = Captain

}}

Henri Zongo (died 19 September 1989) was a Burkinabé politician and military officer.{{cite web |last1=Guiguemde |first1=Pierre H. |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-54898/Burkina-Faso#516568.hook |title=Burkina Faso :: Independence - Britannica Online Encyclopedia |website=Britannica |accessdate=8 September 2020 |date=30 August 2019}} He served as a key figure in the country's history after decolonisation: Zongo was involved in two successful coup d'états and accused of being the conspirator of a third that led to his execution.

Zongo, Thomas Sankara, Jean-Baptiste Boukary Lingani and Blaise Compaoré formed the inner core of a military group that launched the 1983 coup d'état that brought Sankara to power as president.{{cite web |title=Burkina Faso's Leader Ousted by Deputy |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-10-16-mn-9745-story.html |website=Los Angeles Times |accessdate=8 September 2020 |date=16 October 1987}} Zongo was appointed as the Minister of Economic Promotion on 4 August 1983,{{cite book |last1=Prairie |first1=Michel |title=Thomas Sankara Speaks |date=2019 |publisher=Pathfinder Press |location=Canada |isbn=978-0-87348-986-7 |page=471 |edition=Ninth}} a role he served until his death.{{cite news |title=Burkina Faso coup leaders killed |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/423700347/ |accessdate=8 September 2020 |work=The Gazette |date=20 September 1989 |page=40}} Zongo also served as the Sports Minister of Upper Volta; he called for an African boycott of the 1984 Summer Olympics to protest against Britain's sporting links with South Africa, whose apartheid rule institutionalised racial segregation.{{cite news |title=Olympics Senior African sports official calls for boycott |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/183716525/ |accessdate=8 September 2020 |work=Clarion-Ledger |date=3 July 1984 |page=26}}

Zongo, Lingani and Compaoré then led the 1987 coup d'état that saw the overthrow of Sankara. After this overthrow, Compaoré took power at the head of a triumvirate of which Zongo and Lingani were members. Zongo and Lingani disagreed with Compaoré on economic reform issues and were accused of an attempt to overthrow the government. Zongo, Lingani and two unnamed military plotters were arrested and executed in 1989.{{cite web |title=Four Coup Plotters Executed in Burkina Faso |url=https://apnews.com/28c51bbee639fdf22a5cb486878f4cbf |website=Associated Press |accessdate=8 September 2020 |date=20 September 1989}}