Social Party for the Emancipation of the African Masses (in French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

: Parti Social pour l'Émancipation des Masses Africaines) was a political party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 in Upper Volta

Republic of Upper Volta

The Republic of Upper Volta was established on December 11, 1958, as a self-governing colony within the French Community. Before attaining autonomy it had been French Upper Volta and part of the French Union. On August 5, 1960 it attained full independence from France.Thomas Sankara came to power...

, led by Joseph Conombo

Joseph Conombo

Joseph Issoufou Conombo served as Prime Minister of Upper Volta from 7 July 1978 to 25 November 1980...

 and Henri Guissou

Henri Guissou

Henri Guissou was a Burkinabé politician and diplomat.Henri Guissou was senator from Côte d'Ivoire from 1947 to 1948, and member for French Upper Volta to the National Assembly of France from 1949 to 1959, Guissou also served in the French Senate from 1947-1948...

. PSEMA was founded in 1955 following a split in the Voltaic Union

Voltaic Union

Voltaic Union was a political party in Upper Volta. It was formed soon after World War II on the initiative of the French governor Albert Mouragues, and Mouragues was accused of interference in the June 1948 local elections on behalf of the party...

.

Ahead of the 1957 territorial assembly elections PSEMA joined the Unified Democratic Party

Unified Democratic Party

Unified Democratic Party , was, despite its name, not a political party but an electoral alliance of two parties, the Voltaic Democratic Union and the Social Party for the Emancipation of the African Masses , ahead of the 1958 territorial assembly elections in Upper Volta...

 (PDU) coalition, which won the elections. PSEMA candidates did however not fare to good. After the elections PSEMA split from PDU and joined the Voltaic Solidarity

Voltaic Solidarity

Voltaic Solidarity was a political alliance in Upper Volta formed after the territorial elections in 1957. SV was constituted by the Social Party for the Emancipation of the African Masses , African Popular Movement and the Voltaic Democratic Movement...

 (SV) grouping. Effectively it lost government power.

In 1958 PSEMA, along with the rest of SV, merged into the African Regroupment Party

African Regroupment Party

The African Regroupment Party was a political party in the French African colonies.-Formation:The PRA came into being at a meeting in Paris on March 26, 1958, months before the French Community would replace the French Union. The main founding organizations were the African Convention and the...

(PRA).

Source: Englebert, Pierre. La Revolution Burkinabè. Paris: L'Harmattan, 1986.