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Thomas Sankara began by purging
the deeply entrenched bureaucratic and institutional corruption in
Burkina Faso. He slashed the salaries of ministers and sold off the fleet of
exotic cars in the president’s convoy, opting instead for the cheapest brand of
car available in Burkina Faso,
Renault 5. His salary was $450 per month and he
refused to use the air conditioning units in his office, saying that he felt
guilty doing so, since very few of his country people could afford it. Thomas
Sankara would not let his portrait be hung in offices and government
institutions in Burkina Faso, because every Burkinabe is a Thomas Sankara, he
declared. Sankara changed the name of the country from the colonially imposed
Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, which means land of upright men.
Thomas Sankara’s achievements are
numerous and can only be summarized briefly; within the first year of his
leadership, Sankara embarked on an unprecedented mass vaccination program that
saw 2.5 million Burkinabe children vaccinated. From an alarming 280 deaths for
every 1,000 births, infant mortality was immediately slashed to below 145
deaths per 1,000 live births. Sankara preached self reliance,
he banned the
importation of several items into Burkina Faso,
and encouraged
the growth of the local industry. It was not long before
Burkinabes were wearing 100% cotton sourced, woven and tailored in Burkina
Faso. From being a net
importer of food, Thomas Sankara began to
aggressively promote
agriculture in Burkina Faso, telling his country
people to quit eating imported rice and grain from Europe, “let us consume only
what we ourselves control,” he emphasized. In less than 4 years, Burkina Faso
became self sufficient in food production through the redistribution of lands
from the hands of corrupt chiefs and land owners to local farmers, and through
massive irrigation and fertilizer distribution programs. Thomas Sankara
utilized various policies and government assistance to encourage Burkinabes
to get education.
In less than two years as president, school attendance jumped from about 10% to
a little below 25%, thus overturning the 90% illiteracy rate he met upon
assumption of office.
Living way ahead of his time, within 12 months of his
leadership, Sankara vigorously pursued a reforestation program that
saw over 10 million trees planted around the country in order to push back the
encroachment of the Sahara Desert. Uncommon at the time he lived, Sankara
stressed women empowerment and campaigned for
the dignity of women in a traditional patriarchal society. He employed women in
several government positions and declared a day of solidarity with housewives
by mandating their husbands to take on their roles for 24 hours. A personal
fitness enthusiast, Sankara encouraged Burkinabes to be fit and was regularly
seen jogging unaccompanied on the streets of Ouagadougou; his waistline
remained the same throughout his tenure as president.
In 1987, during a meeting of African leaders under the
auspices of the Organization of African Unity, Thomas Sankara tried to convince
his peers to turn their backs on the debt owed western nations. According to
him, “debt is a cleverly managed reconquest of Africa. It is a reconquest that
turns each one of us into a financial slave.” He would not request for, nor
accept aid from the west, noting that “…welfare and aid policies have only
ended up disorganizing us, subjugating us, and robbing us of a sense of
responsibility for our own economic, political, and cultural affairs. We chose
to risk new paths to achieve greater well-being.”
Thomas Sankara was a pan-Africanist who
spoke out against apartheid, telling French President Jacques Chirac, during
his visit to Burkina Faso, that it was wrong for him to support the apartheid
government and that he must be ready to bear the consequences of his actions.
Sankara’s policies and his unapologetic anti-imperialist stand made him an
enemy of France, Burkina Faso’s former colonial master. He spoke truth to power
fearlessly and paid with his life. Upon his assassination, his most valuable
possessions were a car, a refrigerator, three guitars, motorcycles, a broken down
freezer and about $400 in cash.
In death, Thomas Sankara’s burial place is unkempt and
filled with weeds. Few young Africans have ever heard of Thomas Sankara. In
reality, it is not the assassination of Thomas Sankara that has dealt a lethal
blow to Africa and Africans; it is the assassination of his
memory, as manifested in the indifference to his legacy, in the
lack of constant reference to his ideals and ideas by Africans, by those who
know and those who should know. Among physical and mental dirt and debris lie
Africa’s heroes while the younger generations search in vain for role models
from among their kind. Africans have therefore, internalized self-abhorrence
and the convictions of innate incapability to bring about transformation. Transformation
must run contrary to the African’s DNA, many Africans
subconsciously believe.
Africans are not given to celebrating
their own heroes, but this must change. It is a colonial legacy
that was instituted to establish the inferiority of the colonized and justify
colonialism. It was a strategic policy that ensured that Africans celebrated
the heroes of their colonial masters, but not that of Africa. Fifty years and
counting after colonialism ended, Africa’s curriculum must now be redrafted to
reflect the numerous achievements of Africans. The present generation of
Africans is thirsty, searching for where to draw the moral, intellectual and
spiritual courage to effect change. The waters to quench the thirst, as other
continents have already established, lies fundamentally in history - in
Africa’s forbears, men, women and children who experienced much of what most
Africans currently experience, but who chose to toe a different path. The
media, entertainment industry, civil society groups, writers, institutions and
organizations must begin to search out and include African role models, case
studies and examples in their contents.
For Africans, the strength desperately needed for the
transformation of the continent cannot be drawn from World Bank and IMF
policies, from aid and assistance obtained from China, India, the United States
or Europe. The strength to transform Africa lies in the foundations
laid by uncommon heroes like Thomas Sankara; a man who showed
Africa and the world that with a single minded pursuit of purpose, the worst
can be made the best, and in record time, too.
Source: Sahara
Reporters
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