Henri Zongo was a military officer in the army of Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...

 and a key figure in the country's history after decolonisation. He was responsible on 15 October 1987 for the overthrow of the country's government after power became too concentrated with the country's military leaders whom included Zongo as well as Jean-Baptiste Boukari Lingani and Blaise Compaoré

Blaise Compaoré

Blaise Compaoré has been the President of Burkina Faso since 1987 following a coup d'état that ousted then-President Thomas Sankara. In 2011, a mutiny by soldiers over unpaid housing allowances forced him to flee the capital for his hometown...

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After this overthrow Compaoré took power at the head of a triumvirate

Triumvirate

A triumvirate is a political regime dominated by three powerful individuals, each a triumvir . The arrangement can be formal or informal, and though the three are usually equal on paper, in reality this is rarely the case...

. However, in 1989 Zongo was executed after being accused of plotting to overthrow the government of Compaoré. The two had disagreed with economic reform issues.