16/12/2025
This is Thomas Sankara.
He was the President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987.
When Sankara was born, "Burkina Faso" did not exist.
The country was still known as Upper Volta, a name given by France during colonial rule.
After taking power, Sankara renamed the country Burkina Faso, which means “Land of Upright People.”
Before becoming president, Sankara was a military officer with the rank of Captain.
Unlike many officers, he was deeply ideological. While studying and training abroad, especially in Madagascar, he was exposed to anti-colonial uprisings and Marxist ideas. He read widely and was influenced by Karl Marx, Lenin and Che Guevara.
The army became his political classroom.
In 1983, Sankara was appointed Prime Minister. At that time, the country was still called Upper Volta. He immediately began giving fiery speeches that challenged Western powers. Even people in his own government became uncomfortable. Sankara openly criticized imperialism, foreign aid, and African leaders who served Western interests.
Because of this, he was arrested by his own government.
A sitting prime minister was arrested for speaking against neocolonialism.
But Sankara had become too popular and way too influential to be silenced.
And so, on 4 August 1983, a group of junior officers led by Sankara’s close friend and ally, Blaise Compaoré, overthrew the government and installed Sankara as president.
From that moment, everything changed.
One of Sankara’s first major actions was to rename the country.
Upper Volta was a colonial name based on rivers, and Sankara rejected it.
He believed Africans must define themselves.
Upper Volta became Burkina Faso.
Sankara believed that foreign aid was a tool of control.
He famously said:
“He who feeds you, controls you.”
He rejected IMF and World Bank programs and refused to beg for aid.
Instead, he pushed for self-reliance.
Land was redistributed to peasants.
▪️Burkina Faso significantly increased food production and reduced reliance on food aid. Some scholars even say that Burkina Faso actually reached full sufficiency in food though this is debated.
However his firm stance against corruption is not debated.
He:
▪️ Cut government salaries, including his own
▪️ Banned luxury cars for officials
▪️ Banned chauffeurs
▪️ Banned first-class travel
He lived modestly and owned no luxury property or vehicles.
He publicly declared his assets.
Sankara was also a strong supporter of women’s liberation.
He believed a revolution without women was meaningless.
Under Sankara:
▪️ Forced marriages were banned
▪️ Female ge***al mutilation was outlawed
▪️ Women were appointed to senior government positions
▪️ Men were encouraged to do domestic work
This was extremely radical in the 1980s, especially in Africa.
He launched mass vaccination campaigns, immunizing millions of children against measles, polio, and meningitis in a short time.
He built schools and clinics and promoted literacy programs nationwide.
He also planted millions of trees to fight desertification, making him one of Africa’s earliest environmental leaders.
Unfortunately Sankara's Pan-Africanist stance made him an enemy of the West. He set a very dangerous example by proving that an African country could survive without Western control.
This alarmed powerful external actors, particularly France, which viewed Sankara as a destabilizing influence in its former colony. In the 1980s, neocolonialism was too strong, and most African states were young. Sankara became a marked man. It was only a matter of time.
THE DEATH OF SANKARA
As I mentioned before, Sankara came to power via a coup which was led by his friend, Blaise Compaoré.
However their friendship later broke down. The breakdown of their relationship was primarily rooted in political and ideological differences, though personal power struggles later deepened the rift.
Sankara became more and more radical, openly challenging France at every opportunity.
Compaoré preferred a more cautious path. He wanted to restore relations with Western powers and conservative African leaders.
As Sankara pushed the revolution further and centralized power, mistrust grew within the leadership and the military. By 1987, their visions for Burkina Faso were no longer compatible. The friendship that once made Sankara president ended in his assassination, and here is how it happened. 👇
On 15 October 1987, Sankara attended a meeting in Ouagadougou. During the meeting, soldiers stormed in. Sankara was shot dead, along with 12 of his colleagues. He was only 37.
The coup was led by Blaise Compaoré, the same man who had helped bring him to power. The government later claimed Sankara died “naturally.” That was a lie.
After Sankara’s death, Compaoré reversed almost all of his policies. He ruled for 27 years, until 2014, when a popular uprising removed him from power. He fled Burkina Faso and settled in Ivory Coast, where he was granted citizenship shortly after his arrival.
In 2022, Compaoré was convicted in absentia for the murder of Thomas Sankara.
The court found him guilty of assassination, concealment of a co**se, and attacks on state security, and sentenced him to life imprisonment, but he has never been arrested.
TAFFY THEMAN
