Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara, generally known as Thomas Sankara, was a marxist-leninist Burkinabé military officer who was elected President of Burkina Faso (then Upper Volta, an ex-French colony) from 1983 to 1987 after a coup.
He was assassinated by his close friend Blaise Compaoré, with possible involvement from the French government and the CIA.
Policies
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 that :
- 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, Sankara was killed by an armed group in a coup d'état led by his close friend Blaise Compaoré.
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.
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[1].
Legacy
Today, Sankara is still looked up to in Africa by many -- there is virtually not one African youth who does not know his name. He is commemorated by many in his home country, to the point that many Burkinabé politicians (such as members of parliament) call for investigations into his assassination to this day.