As Thomas Sankara assassination trial begins: Anadolu Agency profiles former Burkina Faso leader

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) - A military court in Burkina Faso’s capital of Ouagadougou is scheduled to begin the trial of 14 defendants in the 1987 assassination of Thomas Sankara, former president of the West African country.

Sankara assumed power in 1983 but was killed four years later at the age 37, during a coup led by Blaise Compaore, a former ally and main defendant in the case.

“Sankara’s trial has been long overdue,” Ismael Buchanan, senior lecturer in the political science department at the University of Rwanda, told Anadolu Agency about the trial that be open Monday. “It will shed light on the truth.”

Compaore and 13 others face multiple counts in the death of Sankara. He will be prosecuted alongside Gen. Gilbert Diendere, former head of the elite Presidential Security Regiment (RSP).

His lawyers said Campaore will not attend the trial, claiming he enjoys immunity as former president. But still the case will go ahead in their absentia.

Campaore, 70, who was deposed in 2014 in a popular uprising after 27 years in power as president and fled to the Ivory Coast, has always denied allegations he ordered Sankara’s killing.

According to Col. Pierre Ouedraogo, the head of the steering committee of the Thomas Sankara International Memorial Committee, the start of the trial means there is “no place for impunity” in Burkina Faso and it is “time for justice to be served.”

- Who was Sankara

Sankara was a military officer and socialist revolutionary who served as President of Burkina Faso from his coup in 1983 until his assassination in 1987.

Born in 1949 in Upper Volta, to a gendarme father, he assumed power at the age of 33.

He opted for a military career, reportedly against the wishes of his family that wanted him to become a priest.

He had a mixed upbringing, having been exposed from a relatively young age to left-wing ideologies and teachings of the Bible and the Quran.

He received military training in Madagascar and the Parachute Academy in France.

- Revolutionary ideas

Sankara was well versed in the military as well as politics. In a famous phrase, he once said, “A soldier without political education is a potential criminal.”

Soon after assuming power, he changed the country’s colonial name from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso: The land of Honest people.

Buchanan described Sankara as a revolutionary, a socialist and nationalist leader who fought imperialism.

“Sankara was a big fighter and determined leader on the African continent,” said Buchanan.

“He had transformed Burkina Faso from a country dependent on aid to an economically progressive nation. This man is the ‘Che Guevara of our African continent.’ In short, his legacy lives on,” he said.

Buchanan described Sankara as one of the “most charismatic and extraordinary African leaders, who strongly believed in African unity, and the African liberation struggle.”

- Women empowerment

Sankara is believed to have had genuine feelings for his people and that helped him gain popularity.

During his reign, he implemented programs to empower women and improve their presence politically.

In speeches he is quoted to have said: “Inequality can be done away with only by establishing a new society, where men and women will enjoy equal rights.”

“The status of women will improve only with the elimination of the system that exploits them.”

He believed that the revolution could not succeed without the emancipation of women.

- Fighting graft

Sankara fought corruption and environmental degradation.

He pursued environmentally sustainable measures, digging several wells and reservoirs to store water.

Farmers were instructed on ways to protect their land and trees were planted to fight desertification. He is credited with planting more than 10 million trees to curb desertification.

Sankara also pushed for national self-reliance. He refused assistance from organizations, including the International Monetary Fund because “aid instills in our spirits the attitude of beggars.”

He held revolutionary ideas, advocating for wearing clothes made in Burkina Faso to encourage the production and consumption of local goods.

According to Buchanan, Sankara promoted the issue of “homegrown solutions.”

“He was a man of selflessness and integrity. A man of humility who lived a simple life. Our current leaders need to learn so many things from Sankara,” said Buchanan.

- Education, health care

When Sankara assumed power, he embarked on policies to overcome the miserable situation of Burkinabe people who he believed suffered enough from diseases and illiteracy.

He implemented a mass vaccination campaign in 1984 to immunize children against measles, meningitis and yellow fever that helped to reduce infant mortality.

In the education sphere, he prioritized learning in 1986 through a national literacy program.

- Sankara’s assassination

Sankara was assassinated in a coup led by his right hand man Compaore on Oct.15, 1987.

He was and remains a symbol of resistance and hope for Africans across the continent. People from Burkina Faso and other African countries regard him as a change agent who represented revolutionary humanism.

He is quoted to have said, “I want people to remember me as someone whose life has been helpful to humanity.”