Lt Col Isaac Zida named prime minister of Burkina Faso Wednesday Nov 19,2014

 

Col Zida was an officer in former President Compaore's presidential guard

Burkina Faso's army-appointed leader Lieutenant-Colonel Isaac Zida speaks during the signing of a transition charter at the Maison du Peuple in Ouagadougou on November 16, 2014
 


Zida hails from Yako, in the centre-north province of Passore, and was trained at the Commando Training Centre of Po -- in the south of the west African country, according to one of his aides.
He also received further military training in Morocco and Cameroon and has a masters in international management from Jean Moulin university in Lyon, France.
Zida served as a UN peacekeeper in the Democratic Republic of Congo for a year from 2008, a member of his team told AFP, before travelling to the US to undergo anti-terrorist training in Florida.
During the 2011 political crisis in the Ivory Coast, he was a liaison officer on Compaore's staff while he tried to mediate a solution to the stand-off

Zida's appointment as Kafando's head of government -- agreed between politicians and army leaders, according to a senior officer -- ensured the army keeps its hand firmly on the wheels of power in the months ahead.