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Sankara

RESEARCH PAPER

Thomas Sankara and the Revolution in Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is a landlocked country located in the center of West Africa. Its bordering countries include Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Ghana and Niger. It was formerly known as Upper Volta until 1984, when it was changed to actual Burkina Faso which means “the country of honorable people”. With an approximate population of 14 million of people, Burkina Faso remains one of the poorest countries in the world. The country has few natural resources and mostly relies on its agricultural (crops of millet, sorghum, rice and maize) and livestock sectors. A large part of the economic activity of the country is funded by international aid coming from countries such as Libya, France and Taiwan.

Burkina Faso was a French colony and became independent on August 5, 1960. The first president, Maurice Yameogo was overthrow on January 1966 by a military coup led by Colonel Sangoule Lamizana. He dissolved the national assembly and suspended the constitution. On November 25, 1980, Colonel Saye Zerbo led a bloodless coup that toppled Lamizana. In turn, Jean-Baptist Ouedraogo ousted Zerbo on Nov. 7, 1982. But the real revolutionary change occurred the following year when, Thomas Sankara, a charismatic captain in the Burkinabe army took control through another coup.

Thomas Isidore Noel Sankara was born in December in 1949 in Yako, Burkina Faso. Destined to become a catholic priest, Sankara decided otherwise when admitted to Military Secondary school in 1966. After a basic training there, he began his military career at the age of 19, and a year later he was sent to Madagascar for officer training. He witnessed popular uprisings of students and workers that succeeded in overthrowing Madagascar's government. In 1974, he earned much public notoriety for his heroic performance in the border war with Mali, but years later he would renounce the war as he considered it "useless and unjust", which was a reflection of his...