Manasseh’s Folder: The note Compaore gave to Mahama

Dear reader, if you find the word “stupid” or any of its cousins in this piece, don't cringe. Don't contort your face in distaste. And don't send me a mail with the usual sermon, “You could have said it a better way.” We communicate for effect, don't we?

The word stupid was coined for a reason. It is not meant for only toddlers and nonentities. Sometimes it is the best description of our so-called noble men and women. So permit me to use the right words today. I may only be obeying the command of one of my brave and fearless mentors in journalism, Elizabeth Ohene, who recently told us in an article to sometimes “speak about things in a direct and honest way even though it may be impolite to do so.”

Interestingly, I met both Elizabeth Ohene and Thomas Sankara, a major character in this piece, for the first time in the same place. Where? In Kevin Shillington's book, Ghana and the Rawlings Factor.

In fact, if I knew a stronger word to describe Blaise Compaore's attempted constitutional coup, I wouldn't use “stupid”. He didn't learn from Gbagbo across his border, who was slapped by a junior military officer and had his ignoble and panic-stricken face broadcast across the world. When Egypt's Mubarak fell, he took no cue. And when Libya's Gaddafi was smoked out of his hideout like a rat and killed like a stray dog, Compaore didn't learn any lesson.

For those readers who have not followed the story of our northern neighbours, the keepers of our SADA guinea fowls, here is a summary:

In 1984, a young and charismatic revolutionary named Thomas Sankara renamed the Upper Volta Burkina Faso. That name, we are told, means the Land of Upright Men. And, of course, women. The name should have inspired some level of nobility in its people and leaders. But Compaore was clearly not an upright man.

On October 15, 1987, his best friend, Thomas Sankara, was murdered. Thomas Sankara, a friend of Former President Jerry John Rawlings was only 37 years old and had ruled Burkina Faso for four years.

Thomas Sankara

Sankara was a pan-Africanist whose policies were aimed at keeping the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and their distant cousins at bay. The West did not like him, but he was loved by his compatriots and those who genuinely had the continent of Africa at heart.

Sankara was one African leader who took a bold stance against corruption and kept his fellow generals in check.

"Sankara was Africa's most down-to-earth president then. He lived in a small, modest house, rode a bicycle and had $350 in his account at the time of his death," Seydou Yabré, an independent rural development expert, told Al Jazeera.

"He was also contested within his inner circle because he never wanted his army colleagues to embezzle public funds and lead a flamboyant lifestyle," Yabré said.

But his ambitious plans for the arid nation ended that fateful evening in October. His best friend, Blaise Compaore, described his killing as an accident. He is believed to have masterminded the murder of the man who was like his brother, but officially the killer of Sankara is unknown. What we know is that Blaise Compaore became the biggest beneficiary of Sankara's death. He succeeded Sankara as military ruler until 1991 when elections were held. Blessed Blaise won hands down. But the election was not without issues.

The main opposition parties in Burkina Faso boycotted the 1991 election, questioning the method through which Compaore became president in the first place. Turnout was low. Only 25% of the electorate voted. The tenure for the presidency was then seven years. So in 1998, he contested again and won again. After two terms of 14 years as democratically elected president and having already enjoyed four years as a military ruler, Compaore was not satisfied with power.

In August 2005, he announced his intention to contest the next presidential election. Opposition parties said this was unconstitutional. The constitutional amendment of 2000 had reduced the term to from seven to five years and limited the president to two terms.

But Blaise Campaore's lawyers said the constitutional amendment could not take retroactive effect. So he contested and won. He again won another five-year term in 2010, and Burkinabes who were born after October 15, 1987 were happy that after 27 years, their nation would see a different president.

But Compaore had his own plans. He wanted to change the constitution again so he could contest in 2015.

If this is not stupidity, what is it? On October 30, protestors stormed parliament where voting to amend the constitution was ongoing. They set house ablaze and occupied almost every available space in the Land of Upright Men. What followed is well documented.

The protest on October 30th 2014

He fled like a rabbit. The last traces of him in Burkinabe soil was in Po, about 15 kilometres from Ghana. But he didn't come to Ghana. Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, who has his ancestry in Burkina Faso, rescued him.

Down across the Burkinabe border, in the country where Compaore's savannah republic supplies livestock, tomatoes and other agric produce, cholera has killed more than 100 people. The President has initiated a nationwide clean up exercise. And you can be sure this will go down in the “Green Book” as a monumental achievement despite the fact that others are launching rockets into space. That is not my beef for today.

My mutton is when some journalists cornered Ghana's Vice-President, Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, after the clean up exercise and wanted a sound bite on Burkina Faso.

“In your opinion, what has happened in Burkina Faso, what lesson can African leaders learn from it?” one journalist quizzed.

“It's too soon to be learning lessons from it,” the Vice President said.

At this point, I expected someone to pinch him hard and say, “Paa Kwesi, wake up!”

But no one did. And I can't allow my Vice President to be sleeping while his neighbours roof is in flames. It isn't too soon, Veep. In fact, what has happened in Burkina Faso has the same lesson for every African leader.

If Blaise Compaore met African leaders today, he would give them the same lesson notes, perhaps, slightly varied to satisfy their peculiar situations. The note for Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama would read as follows:

“Comrade Mahama, I was living in an imaginary world. The African yesterday is not the same as the African of today. We have made our people look very stupid in the eyes of the world, and they won't take any of our crap again. They are wiser now.

Burkinabe protesters locked in with the military

“Since 1992 when Ghana returned to constitutional rule, no one has attempted to extend their stay. Not even the audacious Chairman Rawlings. So you will not go through what I have gone through. But you are not immune to my fate. In fact, you people pride yourselves in your democratic credentials. But I don't think you have any strong democracy. Ghana only has a strong electoral system, for there is more to democracy than peaceful elections.

“That is where, Comrade Mahama, I fear for you. Your people are becoming indescribably irritated about corruption and your inaction about it. You pretend to be addressing it but, in fact, your inaction seems to be fueling it. I fear for you if you continue this way.

“And don't think you have a fixed mandate so you will ignore the cries of the people. When it matters most, it is the will of people, and not the constitution, that works. In my case, I still had a few months to go according to the constitution. But the people said it was enough. And I had to obey. So don't ignore the cries of your people and brand them as disgruntled opposition elements. That was my biggest mistake.

“I surrounded myself with self-seeking bigots who would not tell me the truth. In the Presidential Palace, I was like the rock in the middle of the sea. I only saw the sun, but I didn't feel its heat. I was in the same country with the suffering masses, but like a man who has never been hungry, I found it difficult to imagine what hunger was like.

Burkina Faso, Presidential Palace

“The sycophants around me assured me that the military was on my side. But I realised, when it was too late, that the military also buy petrol, they pay school fees, they also sleep in darkness, and they queue for water.

“President Mahama, the effect of bad governance is like rain. It doesn't fall on one roof. So when your people complain, listen to them. Fight corruption and use the money to develop your country. That is the only way your peace and reign are guaranteed. When it was time to run, I didn't know where the sycophants who had misled me all this while were.

“What I have learnt is that we African leaders cannot take our people for granted anymore. Until Thursday, I didn't know power did not belong to the President. It belongs to the people–the ordinary people: the farmer, the truck pusher, market woman, the student and the teacher. Power belongs to the people.

“I didn't learn from Laurent Gbagbo. I didn't learn from Mubarak. And I didn't learn from Gaddafi. You cannot afford not to learn from me. Listen to the people who elected you. Power belongs to them. And they can decide to take it anytime they want.

“And always remember: the African today is not the same as the African yesterday. They are wiser.

“Yours sincerely,

“Blaise Compaore, President of Burkina Faso from October 1987 to October 2014.”

The writer, Manasseh Azure Awuni, is a senior broadcast journalist with Joy 99.7FM. His email address is [email protected]