Thomas Sankara

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Thomas Sankara
Portrait of Comrade Sankara
Born	Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara 21 December 1949 Yako, Upper Volta
Died	15 October 1987 (aged 37) Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Cause of death	Assassination
Nationality	Burkinabé
Political orientation	Marxism–Leninism African socialism Pan-Africanism Anti-imperialism

Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara (21 December 1949 – 15 October 1987) was a Burkinabé Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who served as President of Burkina Faso from 1983 until his assassination in 1987. Often called the "Che Guevara of Africa," he seized power in the August Fourth Revolution of 1983, widely supported by the populace, and immediately sought to eliminate corruption and the influence of former French colonial rule. As a socialist and Pan-Africanist, he renamed the country from the colonial “Upper Volta” to “Burkina Faso” (“Land of Incorruptible People”), symbolizing national autonomy and rebirth.

Sankara’s foreign policy was defined by anti-imperialism, rejecting conditional aid from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank while advocating for debt reduction. Domestically, he focused on eradicating famine through food self-sufficiency and land reform, nationalizing land and mineral resources. His government prioritized education and public health, launching nationwide literacy campaigns and vaccinating 2.5 million children for free. He also initiated greening projects to combat desertification in the Sahel and championed women’s liberation, promoting girls’ education and women’s social status.

To achieve radical social change, Sankara suppressed bourgeois interests, banning reactionary trade unions, and establishing People’s Revolutionary Courts to punish corrupt officials and counter-revolutionaries. He admired Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution, and set the stage for a potential dictatorship of the proletariat had his rule lasted longer. Despite his short time in power, his policies significantly improved the lives of the Burkinabé people.

Sankara was assassinated on October 15, 1987, in a coup led by his close friend Blaise Compaoré, with suspected involvement from the French government and the CIA. A week before his death, Sankara famously declared: "While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas." His legacy endures as an icon of African self-reliance and anti-colonial resistance, inspiring subsequent generations despite his short four-year rule.

Policies

Mural representing Thomas Sankara in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

In his 4 years as President of Burkina Faso, Sankara conducted a policy of anti-imperialism aimed at restoring sovereignty over his country. This began by calling out the International Monetary Fund and their African loans as imperialism, and calling for a pan-African socialist union.

He also led extensive national campaigns, some of which include:

• broke out the patriarchal model of Burkinabé society
• vaccinated 2.5 million children against meningitis, yellow fever and measles
• prevented desertification of the Sahel
• stopped governmental corruption, which was widespread before him

He notably said that "a soldier without political education is only a potential criminal", and he undertook to reform the military into a revolutionary corps that would protect Burkina Faso from foreign imperialist threats. Notably, soldiers were put to work in building much-needed infrastructure such as wells, irrigation fields, or brick houses in the many villages of Burkina Faso. The people living in those villages were also tasked with building their own infrastructure so as to integrate them into the process and make them understand that the government is doing this for them and with them.

Assassination

On 15 October 1987, shortly after Sankara began a meeting with a cabinet, a group of soldiers including Compaoré, future Defense Minister Guengère, and future head of state Gilbert Diendéré, rushed into the room. Compaoré then shot and killed Sankara and twelve of his associates. Halouna Traoré was the only survivor.

Compaoré immediately reversed the nationalizations, overturned nearly all of Sankara's policies, rejoined the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to bring in "desperately needed" funds to restore the "shattered" economy and ultimately spurned most of Sankara's legacy. Compaoré's dictatorship remained in power for 27 years until it was overthrown by popular protests in 2014. This has led many to suspect foreign involvment in the coup, particularly from the French government.

Investigation

The results of Sankara's autopsy were finally released in 2015 and showed that Sankara had been shot with his hands up.

In February 2020, French member of parliament André Chassaigne (PCF) formally asked to open a commission of inquiry into Sankara's death and France's possible involvement.

In 2021, a trial was started against Blaise Compaoré (then in exile). In April 2022, a verdict was rendered and Compaoré was found guilty of "attack on state security", "concealment of a corpse" "and complicity in a murder". He was sentenced to life in prison along with two more accomplices.