35 years ago President Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso was assassinated, yet his legacy continues to be an inspiration across the country and Africa. People of my generation look at the reforms instituted by the young, charismatic Sankara as a signifier of what ‘could have been’.
During 4 years in power, he implemented ambitious social and economic programs addressing economic self-sufficiency, gender equity, government wastefulness and climate change. The memory of Sankara grows to match the new name he gave the country, changing it from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, the “Land of Upright Men.”
This year, the long-awaited trial over his murder is nearing an end. 14 men stand accused of plotting the killing, including his close friend, Blaise Compaoré, who became president after Sankara, and stayed in power for 27 years.
In January, I traveled with writer Declan Walsh to cover the trial for the New York Times, and on our first morning in Ougadougou the city shook with gunfire as a military coup unfolded.
You can read Declan's article and analysis on the NYTimes home page.
The statue commemorating Thomas Sankara in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Tires burning in the streets in Ouagadougou on Jan. 23, 2022. The first sign of the coup came on Jan. 23 when an eruption of gunfire at military bases in the capital and several other cities signaled that a military mutiny was underway. That night soldiers surrounded the home of President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, and the uprising morphed into a coup.
Supporters of the military coup standing in front of the monument of the revolution in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on Jan. 25,2022. It was built during the rule of Thomas Sankara between 1983 and 1987.
Safiata Sawadogo, 57, fled the town of Déou, with her family in northern Burkina Faso near the border with Mali, in mid-January 2022, after armed Islamist militants who said their group was part of Al Qaeda stormed through the city and forced many of its residents to flee. Currently, Burkina Faso has 1.4 million IDP's that have been displaced by the upsurge in violence in the country.
Sankara family lawyers Anta Guissé entering the courtroom(right). This is the ongoing trial of the 1987 assassination of revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara in Ouagadougou. This was the first trial day since the military coup that took place a week prior.
Sign of Che Guevara and Thomas Sankara.
Sidsoré Kader Ouedraogo, spokesman for the military junta, announces the takeover on state television.
Supporters of the military coup standing in front of a mural on Jan. 25, 2022 that is a part of the monument of the revolution in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
“We don’t need vengeance,” said Fidèle Kientega, a former Sankara adviser and one of over 100 witnesses at the trial. “But we do need the truth to come out.”
The government building where President Thomas Sankara and 12 officials were killed by soldiers on Oct. 15 1987. Witnesses said Sankara was the first to die, shot dead outside the door now marked by a large photo of him. The images on the left side of the building depict the other 12 men.
The room where Thomas Sankara and the 12 murdered officials were meeting before soldiers attacked on Oct. 15, 1987. Thomas Sankara was killed right outside the door on the right side.
Alouna Traoré, a former adviser to Thomas Sankara, and was the only survivor from the attack. He is standing in the room where he was held for a night following the shooting.
Paul Sankara (Thomas Sankara’s brother) returned to Burkina Faso in August, for the first time in 32 years, from his home in Washington, D.C. For the Sankara family the trial is “a chance to heal,” he said — and to establish the realities about a young leader whose story has been blurred by years of mythmaking, dissimulation and lies.
A family photo taken at the Sankara home in Ouagadougou around 1972. Thomas Sankara is in the upper left corner. His father and mother are at center.
Image of a newspaper on Jan. 27; in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The headline reads "Coup d'Etat: Details of the Operation."
