Few African leaders remain as renowned, especially in death, or whose very mention still excites adoration in the continent, as Thomas Sankara. His assassination in 1987 in a coup as a young, charismatic Pan-Africanist is a key feature of his enduring appeal. And, though not everyone would agree he was the most perfect leader, his image of a committed, self-sacrificing rebel remains idealised by many in the continent. Hence one finds t-shirts and stickers embellished with his face in West Africa, even as his signature red beret will be seen adorning some feisty opposition politicians in the south and east of the continent. The ongoing trial of his assassination already underlines his popularity and status, most notably with the wide local and international media coverage it has attracted since its commencement in October. But while the trial is essentially about unravelling the truth of what happened, perhaps with lessons to be drawn, it is also being seen as one for posterity. For this reason, a group supporting preservation of Sankara’s memory is urging the military tribunal hearing the case to reverse a ruling not to have it filmed. Filming the trial as it unfolds without commentary would constitute an unvarnished archival record of it, which the group argues is not only important for the history of Burkina Faso but for Africa and beyond. With this, the trial might be said as the last hurrah of the icon, of which it might also be ventured it is about completing the story of a man who died too young at only 37 years old. Born Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara in 1949 in what was then Upper Volta, his political awakening came during his military training in Madagascar in the 1970s, where he read extensively and studied the history of the continent’s militant movements. It is around this time he became a committed Marxist-Leninist. By the early 1980s, he had already made his name for his military achievements and charismatic leadership, earning him political appointments. In January 1983, Sankara was appointed prime minister in President Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo’s government. The prime ministership would prove a boon in the growth of his political stature. It opened him to international politics, offering him the opportunity to meet with influential leaders he admired, including Fidel Castro of Cuba and Samora Machel of Mozambique. But he was always a rebel, and it did not help that his popularity locally was increasing even as his international stature grew. This put him at odds with the elites and government leadership. It is thus that, after only eight months as prime minister, he was removed from the post. His subsequent arrest caused much disquiet in the population. It is in this disquiet that, on August 4, 1983, his close friend and military comrade Blaise Compaore overthrew the Ouédraogo regime and installed Sankara as the country’s president. He was only 33 years old. And thus began the new president’s renown across the continent for his strident anti-colonialist stance and the progressive policies he espoused. He promoted education, health care and women’s rights while urging reforestation. He expropriated land from the feudal chiefs and redistributed it to poor farmers. A year into his presidency, he renamed the country Burkina Faso –“The land of upright people”. As much as the renaming was to assert the pride of a people, it was also a rebuff to France colonialism which he detested —colonialism which the country’s former name, Upper Volta, stood for. His reign, which coincided with economic austerity ravaging measures in the continent under structural adjustment policies demanded by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, fueled his anti-imperialist stance. He termed the two institutions “neo-colonialist” and gained wide attention while calling for a united Africa against them. But by the fourth year of reign, and despite the great strides he had made, the country was beset with economic problems and government disunity. This undermined his popularity, fuelling growing dissent in the country. On October 15, 1987, he was gunned down in the country’s capital, Ouagadougou, in a coup led by his erstwhile friend, Blaise Compaore. Compaore would go on to lead Burkina Faso for the next 27 years until he was overthrown in 2013 before fleeing into exile in Ivory Coast. He is being tried in absentia among 14 men accused of plotting Sankara’s death.
