![]() ![]() When asked about his revolutionary intentions by Newsweek, Sankara declared, “Our economic ambition is to use the strength of the people of Burkina Faso to provide, for all, two meals a day and drinking water.” Above all, Sankara showed the world that all of this was possible without neocolonial “assistance” from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the World Bank. In just four years, Burkina Faso would become food self-sufficient: “he who feeds you controls you” was received wisdom. Over two million children were vaccinated in a public health drive, ten million trees were planted to fight desertification, and schools and hospitals were built across the country. The achievements of the revolution cannot be understated. Women’s liberation was placed at the revolution’s forefront, with Sankara arguing that “the revolution and women’s liberation go together.” ![]() To this end, Sankara’s leadership was characterised by nationalization, land redistribution, and expansive railway building programs. Like the Pan-African revolutionaries who went before him, Sankara understood that true independence was more than a new flag and currency - it meant political and economic independence, too. In 1983’s aftermath, French Upper Volta - one of the poorest countries in the world, scarred by the ravages of French colonialism - become Burkina Faso, or “Land of Upright Men” No longer were the backs of the Burkinabé people to be bowed under the boot of French colonialism: instead, they would once more become a proud and independent people. Once Sankara’s right-hand man, Compaoré was also a leading figure in the 1983 coup that brought him to power. But with the death of Sankara snuffing out the Burkinabé Revolution before it could truly come to fruition, and its lead conspirator tried only thirty years after the fact, some feel the justice served is a limited one. “ am proud to have a country where justice works,” declared Sankara family lawyer Guy Herve Kam upon delivery of the verdict. After a drawn-out legal battle lasting almost three decades, former president of Burkina Faso Blaise Campaoré was last week sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 1987 coup d’état that toppled Pan-African Marxist revolutionary Thomas Sankara.
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