On 29 July 1987, Sankara gave a famous speech at the Organization of African Unity on the alleged debts of African countries to Western countries. One such incident was the thwarted attempt to overthrow him in a coup in 1984. At that time, Thomas Sankara strongly condemned western countries’ support for the white president of South Africa, Pieter Willem Botha, a staunch promoter of apartheid, and it was because of these anti-imperialist ideas that the President of Burkina Faso was continuously attacked.
Which country used to be called upper volta free#
Sankara’s revolution was primarily based on sharing and equality for all and the main message was to make the western world understand that they were no longer devoted servants, but people who were free to choose their own destinies. Under Sankara, the people became an integral part of the country’s life in both little and big everyday things. To promote small businesses and render Burkina Faso more autonomous and independent, Sankara used the army which led to a significant reduction in prices allowing the entire population to purchase basic goods. He then launched a mass vaccination program and to fight desertification of the Sahel, he planted a million trees in the area. In addition, Thomas Sankara abolished the tribal practice of female genital mutilation and polygamy. Sankara began a type of integration and safeguarding program for former prostitutes to encourage them to enter the workforce, and he urged the people of Burkina Faso to use condoms against AIDS. Thomas Sankara was also strongly committed to ensuring equality for men and women.
The goal was to live each day like any other inhabitant in Burkina Faso. Sankara rejected wealth, he lived on the brink of poverty, he got around by bicycle, he even imposed the same lifestyle on his ministers. In four years of government, Sankara was finally able to give dignity to the country instituting great reforms and innovations, but above all, by launching a battle against the corruption that had been going on for far too long. Using his talents as a musician, he also rewrote the national anthem called, “Une Seule Nuit”, Only One Night. The name of the country was then changed from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso meaning “the land of the upright people”. With great commitment and determination, Sankara, along with his trusted friend, Blaise Compaoré who became Vice President, began a project to restructure the state taking inspiration from libertarian and communist examples. At the age of 27, in 1976, Sankara, along with another young officer, Blaise Compaoré, founded the “Communist Officers’ Group” and a few years later, in 1983, they overturned the then ruling Ouèdraogo government in a coup d’état without shedding blood.Īfter the coup, Sankara officially became President of Upper Volta. This story begins in Burkina Faso (previously Republic of the Upper Volta), a “fourth-world” country arid, landlocked and devoid of natural and economic resources, but that boasts the birth of Commander Sankara, a different kind of soldier, atypical, who didn’t just give orders to his men, he also listened and tried to understand them. A man who is not well known but who deserves the same importance and attention as many other past heroes.
It’s with these words that I want to tell you the story about a great hero and figure from the last century, Thomas Sankara, the African Che Guevara. (Thomas Sankara 21 December 1949, Yako/ 15 October 1987, Ouagadougou) “While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas.”
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