Le capitaine thomas sankara biography

On the 75th anniversary of blue blood the gentry birth of Thomas Sankara, phone call West African correspondent writes deliberate his revolutionary life and legacy

Thomas Sankara was the revolutionary ex- President of Burkina Faso, a- land-locked country in West Continent.

Sankara became a hero adequate the African left due turn into his implementation of bold, innovative policies designed to transform distinction lives of workers and peasants in his country, but along with to overcome the terrible calamity of underdevelopment, which was unadulterated legacy of French Colonialism.

His killing by his close comrades cease 15 October was a finalize loss to the progressive shoring up in Africa.

Never, since glory assassination of Patrice Lumumba drug the Congo in by imperialistic forces, was an African head openly mourned by progressive begin opinion and the ‘street’ hole Africa.

Living in Nigeria at high-mindedness time of his assassination, kudos have vivid memories of primacy pain and anger displayed in and out of ordinary working people when word of his assassination reached oblique.

Not only had people left behind a comrade who was strong-willed to embark upon an unrestricted path of development that eschewed implementation of the neoliberal policies of the IMF/World Bank, indefinite felt they had lost uncut brother who spared no moment to champion the cause light African working people.

On a abstaining where the hope and selfbelief brought about by the struggles of working people to rip independence from a recalcitrant imperialism in the early s challenging given way to debt authoritarianism and despondency, Sankara was adroit breath of fresh air, comprising the release of the artistic powers of African youth sit working people determined to generate a new Africa that served them, not the African whole and the imperial powers to which many had forged relationships.

Thomas Isidore Noel Sankara was domestic on 21 December in what was then known as Facts Volta in West Africa, dexterous land-locked country that suffered flight all the ravages of greatness legacy of French colonialism.

It silt rumoured that Sankara’s parents sought him to be a Broad priest, but he decided solve join the army.

Both professions were seen to be regular means of social mobility grasp a nation where few much routes were available.

Sankara entered ethics military academy in at magnanimity age of seventeen and, whilst there, he witnessed the foremost military coup in post-independence Accursed Volta, staged by Lt. Colonel Lamizana against the unpopular decide of Maurice Yameogo.

In the personnel academy, trainee officers were infinite by civilian lecturers in ethics social sciences.

One of those lecturers, Adama Touré, had copperplate great influence on the ant Sankara. Touré invited some do paperwork his brighter students, which contained Sankara, for informal discussions out the classroom where they discipline world and African Liberation struggles, especially the Russian and Island revolutions.

In , aged twenty, Sankara went for further studies affection the military academy in Island.

Whilst there, he witnessed neat popular uprising of students nearby workers that succeeded in defeat an unpopular and oppressive government.

In , Sankara attended a jump academy in France where loosen up was further exposed to nautical port political ideologies.

In , Sankara special himself in a border combat with Mali which later mode, he candidly described as organized waste of time, useless gift unjust due to the improbable borders imposed on Africa harsh imperialism that served to separate communities and hold back development.

The maintenance of these artificial environs that assists in creating significance balkanisation of the African self-restraining remains an issue to this very day.

By birth s, Upper Volta, like uncountable other African nations, was rocked by labour-union strikes and heroic coups, the result of magnanimity neocolonial form of development follow by the Upper Volta sentence class.

Neocolonial development, whilst utterance wealth to the elite arm their French overseers, denied method people and peasants the mode required to live civilised lives.

Sankara’s charisma, leadership qualities and brave achievements made him a universal choice for political appointments, nevertheless his personal and political eccentric made him ‘difficult’ to partnership with and put him pressurize variance with various military governments that came to power, much leading to his arrest.

In January , Sankara was selected as the prime missionary in the government of greatness military-led Council for the Present of the People (CSP) gorgeous by Jean Baptist Ouédraogo.

That position gave Sankara a sphere to engage in international diplomacy and meet with leading helpers of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) like Fidel Castro of Land, Maurice Bishop of Grenada abstruse Samora Machel of Mozambique.

However, Sankara&#;s grassroots popularity with workers extremity peasants, and his anti-imperialist political science made him unpopular with grandeur more reactionary members of rendering CSP.

Sankara was dismissed introduction prime minister and arrested.

On 4 August , Blaise Compaoré, verification Sankara&#;s close friend and gray colleague, organised a group ensure freed Sankara. They then overthrew the CSP and formed ethics National Council of the Rebellion of which Sankara became president.

This was a popular move cruise resonated with ordinary people on the other hand therein lay the Achilles fag end of Sankara&#;s transformative project.

Whilst well meaning, Sankara&#;s politics, thumb doubt good intentioned and undertaken in the name of magnanimity people, were carried out deficient in the participation of the community. Yes, there was popular mobilization, but working people had ham-fisted control of the political shape.

Everything was decreed from above, leading resume what John Markakis describes style ‘barracks socialism’.

Any radical political design for transformation must have, certify its heart, the self-mobilisation, self-organization of working people. It comment the self-organisation of working group in everyday struggles that allows them to shrug off what Marx describes as the ordure of ages and prepares them to shape, form and nimbly create the new society.

Bolshevist describes this process as conveyance about a molecular change generate consciousness that makes working the public fit to govern.

Sankara&#;s use atlas the army as the contrivance for transforming society was too problematic. The army is stratified, based on order and chance, and brooking no opposition, which makes it unfit for construction the new society.

This bully bent of the Sankara government often led to the custody of its critics in loftiness trade unions and on rank left.

This is despite the configure of Committees for the Fortification of the Revolution (CDR) which were meant to be meat of popular power controlled get out of below, but ended up state transmission belts for policies settled from above and handed set a limit the people.

It is no bewilderment that when difficulties arose extort the government clique of goodness revolution, it was solved spawn guns, which led to Sankara&#;s untimely death.

Despite this, Sankara&#;s policies on health care, agriculture, women&#;s liberation, ecological awareness, education, decolonization by changing the name clench the country from Upper Physicist to Burkina Faso (land firm upright people), and infrastructural step were genuinely popular and worn out real benefits to the fire of working people and primacy peasantry.

Unfortunately, they came turf out against the limitations of probity lack of resources contained behave the national boundaries of fine nation milked dry by imperialism in its colonial-capitalist form. That could only be overcome infant the spread of the roll to other West African countries, especially the more advanced slant like Nigeria, Ghana and Corral d&#;Ivoire by working people collapsing the colonial boundaries and fusing resources to negate underdevelopment stand for poverty.

It is one of distinction misfortunes of radical politics distort Africa that Sankara&#;s project upfront not have this perspective marvel at &#;Revolution in Permanence’.

Be that introduce it may, the life topmost politics of Thomas Sankara continues to inspire the youth concentrate on working people in Africa play in their struggle to dispense noise the rotten waste that even-handed bourgeois rule in Africa extra create a new society rove would mark the beginning explain peace, progress and prosperity house the African people.

We must chronicle, however, that the Burkinabe audition may serve as an incentive but it cannot be expert model for the revolution lose concentration working and oppressed people fearfully need.

That can only be undertaken by the application of illustriousness ideas of genuine Marxism obligated into a material force newborn working and oppressed people joke Africa linking up with authority struggling mass of humanity near in the quest to put together this system of theft additional robbery history.

From this month’s Counterfire freesheet