A
coup d'état organized by Blaise Compaoré made Sankara President on 4 August 1983 at the age of 33. The coup d'état was supported by
Libya, which was at the time on the verge of war with France in
Chad (see
history of Chad). Sankara identified as a revolutionary and was inspired by the examples of Cuba's
Fidel Castro and
Che Guevara, and Ghana's military leader
Jerry Rawlings. As President, he promoted the 'Democratic and Popular Revolution' (, or RDP). The ideology of the Revolution was defined by Sankara as
anti-imperialist in a speech on 2 October 1983, the (DOP), written by his close associate
Valère Somé. His policy was oriented toward fighting corruption and promoting reforestation. On 4 August 1984, the first anniversary of his accession, he renamed the country Burkina Faso, meaning 'the land of upright people' in
Mooré and
Dyula, the two major languages of the country. He also gave it a new flag, new coat of arms, and wrote a new national anthem (
Ditanyè).
Council of the Revolution When Sankara assumed power on 4 August, he named the leadership of the country the Council of the Revolution (CNR). This was a way for Sankara to signal that he was going to try for political and social change. The CNR was composed of both civilians and soldiers, all ordinary people. But the member count was secret for security reasons and known only to Sankara and others in his inner circle. The CNR regularly met to talk about important plans and decisions for the country. They helped give advice and direction to the government's actions. They voted on suggestions and decisions from government officials; the decision-making was
collective. On some occasions, they overruled even proposals favoured personally by Sankara. Prior to Sankara's presidency, the infant mortality rate in Burkina Faso was about 20.8%. During his time in office, it fell to 14.5%. His administration was also the first African government to publicly recognize the
AIDS epidemic as a major threat to Africa. In addition to healthcare, Sankara focused on large-scale housing and infrastructure projects. He established brick factories to help build houses and reduce urban slums. This initiative provided affordable housing and created jobs, contributing to economic stability. To combat
deforestation, Sankara initiated "The People's Harvest of Forest Nurseries," supplying 7,000 village nurseries and organizing the planting of several million trees. This reforestation effort not only aimed to restore the environment but also to create sustainable agricultural practices. His administration connected all regions of the country through an extensive road and rail-building program. Over of rail was laid by Burkinabé people, facilitating manganese extraction in 'The Battle of the Rails,' without any foreign aid or outside money. These initiatives demonstrated his belief that African countries could achieve prosperity without foreign assistance.
Agriculture In the 1980s, more than 90% of the population were still agrarian farmers. Less than six percent of land that could be
irrigated was receiving irrigation, while the rest relied on rain, which was highly unreliable and inadequate. Only 10% of the population had animals for plowing, whilst the rest relied on individual use of short hoes to plow. Few
livestock herders had access to
fodder; they had to roam the countryside in search of grazing land and watering spots. Because of this, hunger remained prevalent. In years of drought, the rural population was threatened by famines. In Sankara's five-year plan, some 71% of projected investments for the productive sectors were allocated to agriculture, livestock, fishing, wildlife and forests. In three years, 25% more land was irrigated because of volunteer projects. In Sourou Valley, a
dam was built within a few months, almost entirely by volunteer labour. The use of fertilizers increased by 56%. Hundreds of tractors were bought and imported for large-scale cooperative projects. Hundreds of village cereal banks were built through collective labour organised by the CDRs to help farmers store and market their crops. In the past, farmers would have no way to store surplus grains and had to sell them to local merchants, who would sell the same crops back to the same village for twice the cost. In August 1984, all land was
nationalized. Previously, local chiefs had decided who could farm. In some areas, private land ownership had begun to arise. The total cereal production rose by 75% between 1983 and 1986.
Environment In the 1980s, when ecological awareness was still very low, Thomas Sankara was one of the few leaders to consider environmental protection a priority. He engaged in three major battles: against
bush fires, 'which will be considered as crimes and will be punished as such'; against
cattle roaming, 'which infringes on the rights of peoples because unattended animals destroy nature'; and against the chaotic cutting of firewood, 'whose profession will have to be organized and regulated'. As part of a development program involving a large part of the population, ten million trees were planted in Burkina Faso in fifteen months during the revolution. To face the advancing desert and recurrent droughts, Thomas Sankara also proposed planting wooded strips of about fifty kilometers, crossing the country from east to west. He thought of extending this vegetation belt to other countries. Beginning in October 1984, over the space of fifteen months, Sankara's government planted ten million trees in a campaign of
reforestation. Sankara said, "In Burkina wood is our only source of energy. We have to constantly remind every individual of his duty to maintain and regenerate nature".
People's Revolutionary Tribunals Shortly after attaining power, Sankara constructed a system of courts known as the
Popular Revolutionary Tribunal. The courts were created originally to try former government officials in a straightforward way so the average
Burkinabé could participate in or oversee trials of enemies of the revolution. held very openly with oversight from the public. According to the
US State Department, procedures in these trials, especially legal protections for the accused, did not conform to international standards. Defendants had to prove themselves innocent of the crimes they were charged with committing and were not allowed to be represented by counsel. The courts were initially highly admired by the Burkinabé people but were eventually labeled corrupt and oppressive. So-called 'lazy workers' were tried and sentenced to work for free, or expelled from their jobs and discriminated against. Some created their own courts to settle scores and humiliate their enemies.
Relations with the Mossi people A point of contention regarding Sankara's rule is the way he handled the
Mossi ethnic group. The Mossi are the largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso, and they adhere to a strict, traditional, hierarchical social system. At the top of the hierarchy is the
Morho Naba, the chief or king of the Mossi people. Sankara viewed this arrangement as an obstacle to national unity, and proceeded to demote the Mossi elite. The Morho Naba was not allowed to hold courts. Local village chiefs were stripped of their executive powers, which were given to the CDR.
Women's rights Sankara had extensively worked for women's rights and declared "There is no true social revolution without the liberation of women". Improving women's status in Burkinabé society was one of Sankara's explicit goals, and his government included a large number of women, an unprecedented policy priority in West Africa. His government banned
female genital mutilation,
forced marriages and
polygamy, while appointing women to high governmental positions and encouraging them to work outside the home and stay in school even if pregnant. He also established a Ministry of Family Development and the Union of Burkina Women. Sankara recognized the challenges faced by African women when he gave his famous address to mark
International Women's Day on 8 March 1987 in Ouagadougou. Sankara spoke to thousands of women, saying that the Burkinabé Revolution was 'establishing new social relations', which would be 'upsetting the relations of authority between men and women and forcing each to rethink the nature of both. This task is formidable but necessary'. In addition to being the first African leader to appoint women to major cabinet positions, he recruited them
actively for the military. On 17 September Sankara visited Mali and met with Traoré. With Algerian mediation, the two agreed to have the border dispute settled by the
International Court of Justice (ICJ) and subsequently petitioned the body to resolve the issue. In July 1985 Burkina Faso declared the Malian secretary general of the
Economic Community of West Africa, Drissa Keita, a
persona non grata after he criticized Sankara's regime. In September Sankara delivered a speech in which he called for a revolution in Mali. Malian leaders were particularly sensitive to the inflammatory rhetoric, as their country was undergoing social unrest. Around the same time, Sankara and other key figures in the CNR became convinced that Traoré was harbouring opposition to the Burkinabé regime in
Bamako and plotting to provoke a border war, which would be used to support a counterrevolution. map showing the competing claims of Mali and Burkina Faso in the Agacher Strip Tensions at the border began to rise on 24 November when a Burkinabé national was killed near the border in
Soum Province. Malian police crossed the boundary to arrest the murderer and also detained several members of a local Committee for the Defence of the Revolution who were preparing a tribunal. Three days later, Malian police entered Kounia to 'restore order'. Burkina Faso made diplomatic representations on the incidents to Mali, but was given no formal response. At the beginning of December, Burkina Faso informed Mali and other surrounding countries that it was conducting its decennial national census from 10 to 20 December. In an attempt to reduce tensions, ANAD (a West African treaty organization) dispatched a delegation to Bamako and Ouagadougou to mediate. President of Algeria
Chadli Bendjedid contacted Sankara and Traoré to encourage a peaceful resolution. Despite the declared withdrawal, a 'war of the communiques' ensued as Burkinabé and Malian authorities exchanged hostile messages. Feeling threatened by Sankara, Traoré began preparing Mali for hostilities with Burkina Faso. Three
groupements were formed and planned to invade Burkina Faso and converge on the city of
Bobo-Dioulasso. Once there, they would rally Burkinabé opposition forces to take Ouagadougou and overthrow Sankara. Former Sankara aide Paul Michaud wrote that Sankara had intended to provoke Mali into conflict with the aim of mobilizing popular support for his regime. According to Michaud, "an official—and reliable—Malian source" had reported that
mobilization documents dating to 19 December were found on the bodies of fallen Burkinabé soldiers during the ensuing war. At dawn on 25 December 1985, about 150
Malian Armed Forces tanks crossed the frontier and attacked several locations. Malian troops also attempted to envelop Bobo-Dioulasso in a
pincer attack. The Burkina Faso Army struggled to repel the offensive in the face of superior Malian firepower and was overwhelmed on the northern front; Immediately after hostilities began, other African leaders attempted to institute a truce. On the morning of 30 December, Burkina Faso and Mali agreed to an ANAD-brokered ceasefire. Both countries indicated their satisfaction with the judgement. Burkina Faso declared that the war was part of an 'international plot' to bring down Sankara's government. It rejected speculation that it was fought over rumoured mineral wealth in the Agacher. The country's relatively poor performance in the conflict damaged the domestic credibility of the CNR. Some Burkinabé soldiers were angered by Sankara's failure to prosecute the war more aggressively and rally a counteroffensive against Mali. The conflict also demonstrated the country's weak international position and forced the CNR to craft a more moderate image of its policies and goals abroad. In the aftermath, the Burkinabé government made little reference to supporting revolution in other countries, and its relations with France modestly improved. At a rally held after the war, Sankara conceded that his country's military was not adequately armed and announced the commutation of sentences for numerous political prisoners.
Relations with other countries Thomas Sankara defined his program as anti-imperialist. In this respect,
France became the main target of revolutionary statements. When President
François Mitterrand visited Burkina Faso in November 1986, Sankara criticized the French for having received
P. W. Botha, the
Prime Minister of South Africa, which still enforced
apartheid; and
Jonas Savimbi, the leader of
UNITA, in France, referring to both men as 'covered in blood from head to toe'. In response, France reduced its economic aid to Burkina Faso by 80% between 1983 and 1985. , President Mitterrand's advisor on African affairs, organized a media campaign in France to denigrate Thomas Sankara in collaboration with the
DGSE. It provided the press with a series of documents on supposed atrocities intended to feed articles against him. Denouncing the support of the
United States to
Israel and
South Africa, he called on African countries to boycott the
1984 Summer Olympics in
Los Angeles. At the
United Nations General Assembly, he denounced the
invasion of Grenada by the United States. The U.S. responded by implementing trade sanctions against Burkina Faso. Also at the UN, Sankara called for an end to the veto power granted to the great powers. In the name of the 'right of peoples to sovereignty', he supported the national demands of the
Western Sahara,
Palestine, the Nicaraguan
Sandinistas, and the South African
ANC. While he had good relations with Ghanaian leader
Jerry Rawlings and Libyan leader
Muammar Gaddafi, Sankara was relatively isolated in West Africa. Leaders close to France, such as
Félix Houphouët-Boigny in
Ivory Coast and
Hassan II in
Morocco, were particularly hostile to him.
Criticism The British development organization
Oxfam recorded the arrest of trade union leaders in 1987. In 1984, seven individuals associated with the previous régime in Burkina Faso were accused of treason and executed after a summary trial. Non-governmental organizations and unions were harassed or placed under the authority of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, branches of which were established in each workplace and which functioned as 'organs of political and social control'. Three days after Sankara had assumed power in 1983 through the popular revolution, the National Union of African Teachers of Upper Volta (SNEAHV) called Sankara and his government
fascist and called upon workers to be ready to fight for their freedom. As a result, the government ordered the arrest of four key figures of the SNEAHV; one was released shortly after. In response, the SNEAHV called for a national teachers' strike to protest the arrests. The government saw this as something that endangered the politically weak Upper Volta, which had already faced five coups since its independence. Therefore, the minister for National Education called upon directors of
private schools "not to use the services of the strikers in their establishments". The call affected 1300-1500 teachers.
Popular Revolutionary Tribunals, set up by the government throughout the country, placed defendants on trial for corruption, tax evasion or 'counter-revolutionary' activity. Procedures in these trials, especially legal protections for the accused, did not conform to international standards. According to Christian Morrisson and Jean-Paul Azam of the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the 'climate of urgency and drastic action in which many punishments were carried out immediately against those who had the misfortune to be found guilty of unrevolutionary behaviour, bore some resemblance to what occurred in the worst days of the
French Revolution, during the
Reign of Terror. Although few people were killed, violence was widespread'. ==Death==