Thirty-four years after the assassination of Burkina Faso’s then-President, Thomas Sankara, 14 men are on trial for their roles in the assassination of the man regarded as ‘Africa’s Che Guevara.’
Thomas Sankara was the former president of Burkina Faso.
On 15 October 1987, soldiers killed the charismatic Pan-Africanist, who was 37 years old at the time, after a coup led by one of his close friends Blaise Compaoré, who then came in to power.
Previously, before four years, the pair organised Sankara’s takeover as the President of Burkina Faso. Mr Compaoré is currently in exile in Ivory Coast after being forced to resign as a result of major protests in 2014.
Even though he is one of the 14 accused, he has continuously denied any participation in Sankara’s death and has decided to boycott the trial.
Sankara remains an icon across the continent despite the passage of time. Stickers with his face are seen on cabs across West Africa. Julius Malema, a radical opposition leader named him as one of his inspirations while being across the continent in South Africa.
Legacy of Sankara.
Luc Damiba, secretary general of the Thomas Sankara Memorial Committee says that for them, Sankara was a patriot. He loved his people and his country. He loved Africa and gave his life for Africans, Damiba added.
Sankara was the one who renamed his country as Burkina Faso, which means the ‘Land of Upright People’. The former name of the country was ‘Upper Volta.’
Education was a top priority for Sankara. The literacy rate of Burkina Faso increased from 13 percent in 1983 to 73 percent in 1987 while Sankara was in power.
He redistributed lands from the feudal landlords to the impoverished farmers, which resulted in a massive rise in wheat production.
Sankara led a simple life where he cut down his own income, as well as the salaries of all public employees. In addition, he prohibited the employment of government chauffeurs and first-class aircraft tickets.
He carried out massive vaccination campaigns in the country.
Sankara called the African nations to unite against the ‘neo-colonialism’ of international institutions like World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
His anti-imperialist foreign policies challenged the dominance of countries such as France, which retained large influence in their former colonies in the African continent.
A student from the Thomas Sankara University in Ouagadougou said that Sankara remained their president for what he had done for the population of Burkina Faso. The student added that Sankara encouraged young generations to do as he did.
Sankara was a radical left-wing leader whose policies were criticised by human right organisations as draconian policies.
Serge Theophile Balima, who was the minister of information in Sankara’s government, said that Sankara was too slow to accept the concept of pluralistic democracy.
Prof. Balima added that Sankara wanted to give power to the people. He gave the authority to the proletarians who led the Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (CDRs). The CDRs were recruited to moralise public and private life.
The trial of his assassination.
Paul Sankara, Thomas Sankara’s brother said that they had waited a long time for a trial while Compaoré ruled the country for 27 years. A trial was not thinkable in his regime.
Thomas Sankara’s widow filed a criminal complaint over the murder of her husband in 1997. It took 15 years for the court to grant permission to continue the investigation.
Mr Compaoré was overthrown in 2014, after which, Sankara’s remains were exhumed. The DNA analysis could not confirm if the remains were of him.
His widow had accused France of conspiring for Sankara’s assassination. Burkina Faso authorities asked the French government to release the documents of Sankara’s assassination.
The archives were transmitted in three stages to Burkina Faso after declassifying from France. The final archive was relieved by Burkina Faso in 2021 April.
General Gilbert Diendéré, Mr Compaoré’s former chief of the staff, and 11 other people are required to appear before the military trial for Sankara’s assassination.
General Gilbert Diendéré is already in prison, having been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in a failed coup attempt in 2015.
They are accused of the charges of ‘attacking state security,’ ‘complicity in assassination,’ and ‘concealment of bodies.’ The trail will take place on Monday, decades after his assassination.
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