15 key things about Thomas Sankara, the revolutionary leader of Burkina Faso

Thomas Sankara, often referred to as “Africa’s Che Guevara” was the president of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987. He seized power in a 1983 popularly supported coup, with the goal of eliminating corruption and the dominance of the former French colonial power.

1.Sankara trained as a soldier and rose through the ranks of the military. He received part of his military education in Madagascar, where he was exposed to leftist and anti-colonial ideologies.

2. Sankara became president in 1983 after a coup d’état, supported by a group of young officers, including Blaise Compaoré. At the time, he was 33 years old.

3. One of his first acts as president was renaming the country from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, meaning “Land of Upright People,” symbolizing a break from colonial rule.

4. Sankara advocated for economic self-sufficiency, famously saying, “He who feeds you, controls you.” He rejected foreign aid and sought to reduce dependency on Western countries.

5. He implemented land reforms, redistributing land from feudal landlords to peasants, which significantly boosted agricultural production, making Burkina Faso food self-sufficient in just a few years.

6. Sankara was a staunch advocate for women’s rights, banning forced marriages, promoting contraception, and encouraging women to work in all sectors of society. He appointed women to key government positions and was one of the few African leaders at the time to take gender equality seriously.

7. Sankara launched ambitious reforestation programs to combat desertification, planting millions of trees across the country in an effort to save the environment.

8. Unlike many African leaders, Sankara lived a modest life, refusing luxury perks of leadership. He sold off the government’s fleet of Mercedes cars, replacing them with cheaper Renault 5s, the smallest cars in Burkina Faso at the time.

9. Sankara fiercely opposed neocolonialism and was a vocal critic of Western interference in Africa. He worked to build a united Africa that could stand on its own without foreign domination.

10. His government launched national vaccination campaigns, which vaccinated millions of children against diseases such as polio and measles. He also prioritized education, building schools, and encouraging literacy.

11. Sankara famously rejected the idea of African nations paying back debts to former colonial powers, calling these debts “neocolonialism in disguise.” He encouraged other African nations to follow suit.

12. Sankara believed in the unity of African nations as a solution to many of the continent’s problems. He advocated for a Pan-African movement and often spoke about the need for African nations to work together for collective self-reliance.

13. In 1987, Thomas Sankara was assassinated in a coup d’état orchestrated by his former ally, Blaise Compaoré, who took power after Sankara’s death. Sankara was shot along with 12 of his aides.

14. Sankara’s ideas and revolutionary spirit continue to inspire movements across Africa and around the world. He is celebrated as a symbol of resistance against oppression, corruption, and imperialism.

15. After years of being suppressed by Blaise Compaoré’s regime, Sankara’s legacy gained renewed attention following Compaoré’s ouster in 2014. In 2021, a trial was held to investigate his assassination, leading to convictions of key figures involved in the coup, including Compaoré in absentia.

Sankara’s short time in power left a lasting impact on Burkina Faso and the broader African continent, with his ideals of self-reliance, integrity, and social justice still resonating today.