Rare Images of Thomas Sankara - A True Pan-Africanist
Thomas Sankara was a revolutionary leader and President of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987. A pan-Africanist who was viewed by supporters as a charismatic and iconic figure sometimes referred to as "Africa's Che Guevara".
Below are Four ideologies that formed the foundation of the policies implemented by Sankara for the people of Burkina Faso between 1983 and 1987.
– The necessity of relying on one’s own strength
– Mass participation in politics with the goal of changing one’s condition in life
– The emancipation of women and their inclusion in the processes of development
– The use of the State as an instrument for economic and social transformation
Thomas Sankara – ‘Africa’s Che Guevara’
- A captain in army of Upper Volta, a former French colony in West Africa
- Instrumental in the coup that ousted Col Saye Zerbo as president in 1982
- Took power from Maj Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo in an internal power struggle and became president in August 1983
- Adopted radical left-wing policies and sought to reduce government corruption
- Changed the name of the country from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, which means “the land of upright men”
- Criticised by some as an undemocratic authoritarian
- Killed in mysterious circumstances by a group of soldiers in October 1987, aged 37
- The anti-imperialist revolutionary is still hugely popular across Africa.
