Thomas Isidore Noel Sankara was a charismatic and iconic figure of revolution who is often called "Africa's Che Guevara" from Burkina Faso. He was born on 21 December 1949 and died on 15 October 1987. Sankara
seized power aged 33 in 1983 with the aim of fighting corruption and eliminating the power of the French who are the colonial masters of Burkina Faso.Sankara was a Roman Catholic and began his military career aged 19 at which he was sent to Antsirabe in Madagascar, where he witnessed popular uprisings in 1971 and 1972 against the government of Philibert Tsiranana . It was also there that he read the books of Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx which influenced his political views all through his life .
seized power aged 33 in 1983 with the aim of fighting corruption and eliminating the power of the French who are the colonial masters of Burkina Faso.Sankara was a Roman Catholic and began his military career aged 19 at which he was sent to Antsirabe in Madagascar, where he witnessed popular uprisings in 1971 and 1972 against the government of Philibert Tsiranana . It was also there that he read the books of Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx which influenced his political views all through his life .
He rode a bicycle to his first cabinet meeting in 1981 as a Secretary of State for information and resigned in 1982 to oppose the regimes anti-labour laws. He became Prime Minister in January 1983 under Jean-Baptiste Quedraogo and was dismissed in May and placed under house arrest.
Sankara was made president in a coup d'état organised by Blaise Compaore on August 1983 at the age of 33. His policy was oriented towards fighting corruption, promoting reforestation, averting famine and making education and health real priorities. He renamed the country Burkina Faso which means "the land of upright people" in More and Djula language ( the two major language in the country), changing the flag and national anthem as well . He seized the land and labour held by feudal landlord to be distributed amongst the peasants and also introduced irrigation and fertilisation programmes. This led Burkina Faso to reach food self-sufficiency within four years of his rule.
Sankara also introduced massive polio, meningitis and measles vaccination which vaccinated more than 2.5 million children leading to commendation from the World Heath Organization. His government was the first in Africa to publicly recognise AIDS as an epidemic major threat to Africa. His government banned genital mutilation, forced marriages and polygamy and appointed women to high governmental positions, as he was the first African leader to appoint women in his cabinet and recruit then actively in the military .
Sankara sold off all government fleet of Mercedes Cars and made the cheapest car sold in Burkina Faso at that time the official service car of the ministers (Renault 5). He stopped the use of government chauffeurs and 1st class airline tickets for himself and public servants and also reduced their salaries to the lowest minimum. He refused to use air conditioner in his office and forced well-off civil servants to pay one months salary to public projects. He reduced his salary to $450 a month and also reduced his possession to a car (Renault 5), four bikes , there guitars , a fridge and a broken freezer.
Sankara was killed on October 15, 1987 by his friend Blaise Compaore with aid from both President Charles Taylor and Prince Johnson of Liberia, he was buried in an unmarked grave, while his widow Miriam and two children fled the country. Compaore overturned most of the legacies of Sankara and was only overthrown in in 2014 by a popular protest in the country. Sankara even in death still remains the most popular president to have ever ruled Burkina Faso till date.
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