Sankara, Thomas (1949–1987)

Although in power for only a short while (from 1983 to 1987) Thomas Sankara, president of the West African nation Burkina Faso, implemented the Democratic and Popular Revolution, which was primarily concerned with eradicating corruption, fighting environmental degradation, empowering women, and increasing access to education and health care, with the larger goal of liquidating imperial [Page 1263]domination. On the first anniversary of the coup that brought him to power, he changed the country's name from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, which translates to “land of upright men” in Mossi and Dioula, the country's two most widely spoken indigenous languages.

Sankara was born into a Silmi-Mossi family in the northern town of Yako on December 21, 1949. His Roman Catholic parents wanted him to be a priest, but he opted for a military career instead. In 1970, at the age of 20, Sankara was sent for officer training in Madagascar, where he witnessed a popular uprising of students and workers that succeeded in toppling Madagascar's government. Before returning to Burkina Faso in 1972, Sankara attended a parachute academy in France, where he was further exposed to left-wing political ideologies. In 1974, he earned much public notoriety for his heroic performance in the border war with Mali, but years later would renounce the war as useless and unjust.

By the early 1980s, Burkina Faso was being rocked by a series of labor union strikes and military coups. Sankara's military achievements and charismatic leadership style made him a popular choice for political appointments, but his personal and political integrity put him at odds with the leadership of the successive military governments that came to power, leading to his arrest on several occasions. In 1983, Sankara was selected as the prime minister of the newly formed Council for the Salvation of the People (CSP) headed by Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo. This post provided him with an entryway into international politics, and a chance to meet with leaders of the nonaligned movement, including Fidel Castro (Cuba), Samora Machel (Mozambique) and Maurice Bishop (Grenada). Sankara's anti-imperialist stance and grassroots popularity increasingly put him at odds with conservative elements within the CSP, including President Ouedraogo. In an internal coup, Sankara was removed as prime minister and arrested once again. On August 4, 1983, Blaise Compaore, Sankara's close friend and fellow army colleague, along with some 250 others, freed Sankara, overthrew the CSP, and formed the National Council of the Revolution (CNR) with Sankara as its president.

During the course of his short presidency, Sankara successfully implemented programs that vastly reduced infant mortality, increased literacy rates and school attendance, and boosted the number of women holding governmental posts. On the environmental front, in the first year of his presidency alone 10 million trees were planted in an effort to combat desertification.

On October 15, 1987, Sankara was assassinated in a counter-revolutionary coup by Compoare, who, as of 2006, is still president of Burkina Faso. At the time of his death, Sankara was shown to have a salary of $450 a month; and his most valuable possessions were a car, four bikes, three guitars, a refrigerator, and a broken freezer. He was the world's poorest president.

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