Thomas Sankara

Captain
Thomas Sankara
Official portrait, 1983
1st President of Burkina Faso
In office
4 August 1983 – 15 October 1987
Prime MinisterVacant
Preceded byJean-Baptiste Ouédraogo
Succeeded byBlaise Compaoré
5th Prime Minister of Upper Volta
In office
10 January 1983 – 17 May 1983
PresidentJean-Baptiste Ouédraogo
Preceded bySaye Zerbo
Succeeded byPost abolished
Secretary of State for Information
In office
9 September 1981 – 21 April 1982
Personal details
Born
Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara

(1949-12-21)21 December 1949
Yako, Upper Volta, French West Africa
Died15 October 1987(1987-10-15) (aged 37)
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Manner of deathAssassination
Resting placeOuagadougou, Burkina Faso
Political partyAfrican Independence Party[citation needed]
SpouseMariam Sankara
Children2
Signature
Military service
Allegiance
Years of service1966–1987
Rank Captain
Battles/warsAgacher Strip War

Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (French pronunciation: [tɔmɑ izidɔʁ nɔɛl sɑ̃kaʁa]; 21 December 1949 – 15 October 1987) was a Burkinabè military officer, Marxist revolutionary and Pan-Africanist who served as President of Burkina Faso from his coup in 1983 to his assassination in 1987.

After being appointed Prime Minister in 1983, disputes with the sitting government led to Sankara's eventual imprisonment. While he was under house arrest, a group of revolutionaries seized power on his behalf in a popularly-supported coup later that year.[1][2]

At the age of 33, Sankara became the President of the Republic of Upper Volta and launched an unprecedented series of social, ecological, and economic reforms. In 1984, Sankara oversaw the renaming of the country to Burkina Faso ('Land of Incorruptible People'), with its people being called Burkinabé ('upright people').[3][4] His foreign policies were centred on anti-imperialism and he rejected loans and capital from organizations such as the International Monetary Fund. However he welcomed some foreign aid in an effort to boost the domestic economy, diversify the sources of assistance, and make Burkina Faso self-sufficient.[5]

His domestic policies included famine prevention, agrarian expansion, land reform, and suspending rural poll taxes, as well as a nationwide literacy campaign and vaccination program to reduce meningitis, yellow fever and measles. Sankara's health programmes distributed millions of doses of vaccines to children across Burkina Faso.[6][7][8][9] His government also focused on building schools, health centres, water reservoirs, and infrastructure projects.[1][10] He combatted desertification of the Sahel by planting more than 10 million trees.[11][9][12] Socially, his government enforced the prohibition of female genital mutilation, forced marriages and polygamy.[13] Sankara reinforced his populist image by ordering the sale of luxury vehicles and properties owned by the government in order to reduce costs. In addition, he banned what he considered the luxury of air conditioning in government offices, and homes of politicians.[14][15] He established Cuban-inspired Committees for the Defence of the Revolution to serve as a new foundation of society and promote popular mobilization.[16][17] His Popular Revolutionary Tribunals prosecuted public officials charged with graft, political crimes[12] and corruption, considering such elements of the state counter-revolutionaries.[18] This led to criticism by Amnesty International for human rights violations, including the government's practice of extrajudicial executions and arbitrary detentions of political opponents.[19]

Sankara's revolutionary programmes and reforms for African self-reliance made him an icon to many of Africa's poverty-stricken nations,[20] and the president remained popular with a substantial majority of his country's citizens, as well as those outside Burkina Faso.[21][22] But some of his policies alienated elements of the former ruling class, including tribal leaders — and the governments of France and its ally, the Ivory Coast.[16][23]

On 15 October 1987, Sankara was assassinated by troops led by Blaise Compaoré, who assumed leadership of the country shortly thereafter. Compaoré retained power until the 2014 Burkina Faso uprising. In 2021, he was formally charged with and found guilty for the murder of Sankara by a military tribunal.[24]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :9 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ McGuffin, Sean. "Revolution in the Land of the Incorruptible: Burkina Faso in 1984" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  3. ^ Hubert, Jules Deschamps. "Burkina Faso". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Archived from the original on 9 April 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  4. ^ Molly, John. "What Do the Colors and Symbols of the Flag of Burkina Faso Mean?". World Atlas. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  5. ^ Murrey 2018, p. 171.
  6. ^ Murrey 2018, p. 73.
  7. ^ "Vaccination commando: Burkina Faso". Salubritas. 8 (4): 1. October 1985. ISSN 0191-5789. PMID 12340574.
  8. ^ Kessler, Susi (1987). "Speeding up child immunization" (PDF).
  9. ^ a b Murrey, Amber (2020), Oloruntoba, Samuel Ojo; Falola, Toyin (eds.), "Thomas Sankara and a Political Economy of Happiness", The Palgrave Handbook of African Political Economy, Palgrave Handbooks in IPE, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 193–208, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-38922-2_10, ISBN 978-3-030-38922-2, S2CID 226439167, retrieved 31 December 2020
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ ""Our stomachs will make themselves heard": What Sankara can teach us about food justice today". Pambazuka News. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  12. ^ a b Smith, David (6 March 2015). "Burkina Faso's revolutionary hero Thomas Sankara to be exhumed". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 31 December 2020. Under Sankara the government also prioritised gender quality, working towards the end of female genital mutilation, forced marriages and polygamy. [...] But Sankara was in power long enough to make enemies and sow doubts about his political philosophy. He set up 'revolutionary people's tribunals' to try former public officials charged with political crimes, and stripped powerful feudal chiefs of their rights and privileges.
  13. ^ Mayanja, Namakula (2018). A Certain Amount of Madness: The Life, Politics and Legacies of Thomas Sankara. Pluto Press. p. 236. ISBN 978-0-7453-3757-9.
  14. ^ Ezeanya |, Chika. "Thomas Sankara And The Assassination Of Africa's Memory". Sahara Reporters. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  15. ^ Akhalbey, Francis (25 June 2018). "How Thomas Sankara forced his government to use cheap cars to cut cost [Video]". Face2Face Africa. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  16. ^ a b Bonkoungou, Mathieu (17 October 2007). "Burkina Faso Salutes "Africa's Che" Thomas Sankara". Reuters.
  17. ^ Naʻīm, Abd Allāh Aḥmad; Deng, Francis Mading (1990). Human rights in Africa : cross-cultural perspectives. Internet Archive. Washington, D.C. : The Brookings Institution. ISBN 978-0-8157-1796-6.
  18. ^ Kasuka 2012, p. 296.
  19. ^ Amnesty International (1988). Burkina Faso: Political Imprisonment and the Use of Torture from 1983 to 1988. London: Amnesty International.
  20. ^ California Newsreel. "Thomas Sankara: The Upright Man".
  21. ^ Shillington, Kevin (4 July 2013). Encyclopedia of African History 3-Volume Set. Routledge. p. 184. ISBN 978-1-135-45670-2.
  22. ^ "Burkina Faso: Remembering Sankara, rebel who renamed a country". Yahoo. Archived from the original on 8 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  23. ^ "Burkina commemorates slain leader". BBC News. 15 October 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  24. ^ Wilkins, Henry. "Burkinabe ex-President Compaore charged in Thomas Sankara murder". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 30 January 2024.