body-container-line-1

Thomas Sankara’s Experience: The Fall of A Dedicated Anti-Corruption African Leader

Feature Article Thomas Sankaras Experience: The Fall of A Dedicated Anti-Corruption African Leader
JAN 27, 2023 LISTEN

France colonized Burkina Faso, an African country that was once known as Upper Volta. The country maintained control over its economy and foreign policy despite gaining independence in 1960, which hampered its development. Under the young leadership, the nation of Burkina Faso, which new name means "the land of upright people," underwent a drastic shift as a result of Thomas Sankara's rise to power. Although he was regarded as the most sincere president, his attempts to aid the poor in escaping poverty cost him dearly.

Thomas Sankara was born in a mixed-race household. His mother was from the Fulbe tribe and his father was from the Mosi people. He was able to receive a good education by local standards thanks to the influence of his father, a French gendarme. His parents wanted him to become a priest, but he was more interested in joining the military. Thomas Sankara, then 19 years old, received notice in the army and was assigned to attend an officer's school on the island of Madagascar.

There, he became familiar with Marxist concepts and a fervent advocate of African socialism. Thomas Sankara joined an elite paratrooper unit after arriving in Burkina Faso. Few people in Africa had the motivation to alter things, so when he had the chance, he seized it, since he found it disconcerting that even after gaining independence, African countries still relied on their former colonial rulers.

127202384508-1j041q5ccw-thomas20sankaras20vision202


Thomas Sankara declined humanitarian aid from the United States and Europe and worked to make his nation self-sufficient; sadly, like all African leaders with the potential to transform the continent, his life ended tragically. There are still African leaders today, who lack the enthusiasm to pursue their aspirations, would leave all the continent's treasures behind and travel abroad to beg for food and money.

Burkina Faso was able to become self-sufficient in food during Thomas Sankara's rule. Along with the development of a public school system and free healthcare, equality between men and women was also implemented. In addition to the animosity that official Washington and Paris harbored toward Sankara, his enormous popularity among young Africans and his vehement speeches denouncing neo-colonialism and imperialism infuriated the leaders of the neighboring countries that were vassals of Paris, particularly Ivory Coast and Togo.


He made an effort to establish a paradise in his tiny African kingdom, which included eliminating corruption and setting a good example for his subordinates. Sankara earned the distinction of being the world's poorest president by refusing to accept his high salary and donating it to charity, only flying in economy class, and using an old Peugeot or bicycle as transportation. His attempts to establish Burkina Faso as an independent nation outraged both the West and the United States of America because, in his words, "those that feed you, tell you what to do."


All of his subordinates were required to follow suit and donate their monthly salaries to charity once a year. He ruthlessly wrecked the government fleet, selling all the premium vehicles and replacing them with basic subcompacts. Great African leaders who had the will to transform their continent, like Kwame Nkrumah and Patrice Lumumba, were hated by the developed world before Sankara, because of the immense resources available, they still seek to govern Africa and oppose its growth.

It is well known that the CIA monitored every move and activity of African politicians. They became even angrier with the Marxist Thomas Sankara. The official Paris was more enraged that in 1986, Jacques Foccard, the godfather of France's African agents, persuaded the then Prime Minister Jacques Chirac to get rid of Sankara. We must remember, nevertheless, that an individual's opponent is also a member of his family or close friend.

A few months before the murder, Thomas Sankara was directly threatened by Felix Houphouet-Boigny, head of the French right and recipient of suitcases of cash from the viceroy of Paris in Africa. Through the journalist, Elio Komarin: Houphouet-Boingny said "Tell this' little captain to get out of here as soon as possible, in six months we will take care of him." It is still unclear whether the Elysee Palace provided the go-ahead to back Blaise Compaore's coup d'état or whether Francophone African country's leaders were behind his assassination.

The World Bank said that the anti-corruption fight had been won in Burkina Faso in 1986. Sankara continued to construct roads and social housing, and fight illiteracy, earning the nickname "the African Che Guevara." More significantly, Burkina Faso was liberated from French influence, but this did not sit well with Paris and neighboring African dictatorships that feared that their people would follow Burkina Faso's example and demand changes.


The home of Thomas Sankara was raided by soldiers on October 15, 1987. Ironically, Sankara regarded Captain Blaise Compaore as his best friend and most devoted partner, and he led them. In addition to being shot, the president's body was dismembered and interred in an unmarked grave.


The military justice department finally opened an investigation into Compaore and his goons in 2015, for their involvement in murder and interference with state security. During the judicial investigation, the French Communist newspaper Yumanite published secret documents in April of last year revealing French intelligence services' involvement in Sankara's murder. His closest friend, Blaise Compaore, opted to depose Burkina Faso's anti-imperialist and patriotic leader at the request of international governments.

Sankara’s accomplishments, immunity from all forms of corruption, and refusal to make concessions, cost him his life. He was also disturbed by the apparent achievement of establishing African socialism in the nation. Muammar Gadaffi, the former ruler of Libya, experienced the same issue, after making Libya, one of the richest countries in the world, his vision to transform Africa, also cost him his life.


In my opinion, it doesn't only make you a corrupt politician, but also a coward if you are an African leader who is afraid to develop your country and improve living conditions for the populace because doing so may incite hatred from the West or America. The latter is accurate because no African head of state has ever condemned the US administration for the atrocities committed against African people. How can the rulers of wealthy nations avoid degenerating into beggars should be their priority?


To quell the unrest brought on by Paris' policies, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to declassify French papers about the assassination of Thomas Sankara during a speech in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, in 2017. The Burkina Faso courts were given three archives, but these records failed to persuade the lawyers, who thought the French president was only acting on wishful thinking and doubted the genuineness of his acts.


That is the tragic tale of a young, humble man named Thomas Sankara, who chose to commute to work by bicycle rather than pursue a life of luxury. He took enormous landholdings from the wealthy and gave allotments to the underprivileged. The outcome was astounding; shortly after, the nation's wheat output increased by 2.5 times, and Burkina Faso no longer experienced starvation.

body-container-line