Seyni Kountché (1 July 1931 – 10 November 1987) was a
Niger
Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...
ien military officer who led a 1974 coup d'état that deposed the government of Niger's first
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
,
Hamani Diori
Hamani Diori (6 June 1916 – 23 April 1989) was the first President of the Republic of Niger. He was appointed to that office in 1960, when Niger gained independence from France. Although corruption was a common feature of his administration, ...
. He ruled the country as military head of state from 15 April 1974 until his death on 10 November 1987.
Stade Général Seyni Kountché
Stade Général Seyni Kountché (SGSK)Djerma aristocracy who traced their origins to the Djermakoy Tondikandie, Kountché began his military career in 1949, serving in the French colonial army. In 1957, he was promoted to the rank of
sergeant
Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...
. The French territory of Niger became independent as the Republic of Niger on 3 August 1960. One year after his country gained its independence, Kountché transferred to the
Niger Army
The Niger Armed Forces (, FAN) includes military armed force service branches (#Niger Army, Niger Army and #Niger Air Force, Niger Air Force), paramilitary services branches (Gendarmerie Nationale (Niger), National Gendarmerie of Niger and Nati ...
. From 1965 to 1966, he studied at the officers' training school in Paris and became deputy
chief of staff
The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...
of the armed forces soon after. He was promoted to armed forces chief of staff in 1973.
Niger in 1974
During this same period, the newly independent country of Niger faced many problems. Politically, the nation was ruled as a
one-party state
A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a governance structure in which only a single political party controls the ruling system. In a one-party state, all opposition parties are either outlawed or en ...
led by president Hamani Diori. Opposition to the regime was suppressed, sometimes violently. A severe
drought
A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...
lasted from 1968 to 1974, leading to food shortages and growing dissatisfaction with the government. The economy remained weak despite attempts to exploit the large reserves of
uranium
Uranium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Ura ...
in the country. Widespread civil disorder followed allegations that some government ministers were misappropriating stocks of food aid.
1974 coup
On 15 April 1974, Seyni Kountché led a military coup that ended Diori's rule. Kountché's first official acts were to suspend the
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed.
When these pri ...
, dissolve the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
, ban all
political parties
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
, and release
political prisoner
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...
s. A Supreme Military Council (CMS) was established on 17 April 1974 with Kountché as president. Its stated mandate was to distribute food aid fairly and to restore morality to public life. A consultative National Council for Development (CND) replaced the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...
. Although political parties were outlawed, opposition activists who were exiled during Diori's regime were allowed to return to Niger.
Military governance
The military government's major preoccupation was planning an economic recovery. Generally amicable relations were maintained with France, and new links were formed with
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
states. Domestically, the country stabilized although personal and policy differences developed within the CMS. Plots to remove Kountché were thwarted in 1975 and again in 1976.
Return to constitutional governance
In 1981 Kountché began to increase civilian representation in the CMS, and in 1982 preparations were undertaken for a constitutional
form of government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a m ...
. Thanks to the uranium windfall, workers' wages increased slightly. However, economic adjustment efforts were hampered by repeated droughts in 1984-85 and the closure of the border with Nigeria from 1984 to 1986. A civilian
prime minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
, Mamane Oumarou, was appointed on 24 January 1983. One year later, in January 1984, he established a commission to draft a pre-constitutional document, termed a 'national charter'. It was later approved in a national referendum. The charter provided for the establishment of non-elective, consultative institutions at both national and local levels.
Economic tensions and repression
Economic adjustment efforts during this period were impeded by the recurrence of drought in 1984 and 1985 along with the closure of the land border with
Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
from 1984 to 1986. Niger's dependence on external financial assistance increased. Relations with the United States (by now the country's principal source of food aid) assumed considerable importance. But overall, Kountsche's rule was a rare example of an African military government that was able to solve the country's economic problems. Meanwhile, a period of renewed tension between Niger and
Libya
Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...
had fueled Libyan accusations of the
persecution
Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...
of the light-skinned, nomadic
Tuareg
The Tuareg people (; also spelled Twareg or Touareg; endonym, depending on variety: ''Imuhaɣ'', ''Imušaɣ'', ''Imašeɣăn'' or ''Imajeɣăn'') are a large Berber ethnic group, traditionally nomadic pastoralists, who principally inhabit th ...
population by the Kountché regime. Kountché rejected Libyan overtures to join the Organization of Saharan States because of
Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until his assassination by Libyan rebel forces in 2011. He came to power ...
's pronouncement in a speech at
Benghazi
Benghazi () () is the List of cities in Libya, second-most-populous city in Libya as well as the largest city in Cyrenaica, with an estimated population of 859,000 in 2023. Located on the Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, Ben ...
in October 1980 that "Moors and Arab-Berber people were persecuted and oppressed in
Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
and Niger". In May 1985, following an armed incident near the Niger-Libya border, all non-Nigerien Tuaregs were expelled from the country. Kountché advocated for economic liberal reforms.
Death
Kountché's health deteriorated in late 1986 and it continued to worsen during 1987. He died at a Paris hospital of a
brain tumor
A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the Human brain, brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign ...
on 10 November 1987. Ali Saïbou succeeded him and on 14 November 1987, he was appointed president of the Supreme Military Council (CMS).