Thomas Sankara Lives On: Memorial Anniversary 15 October Yearly.

Thomas Sankara Lives On: Memorial Anniversary 15 October Yearly.

Today 15th October 2019, marks Thomas Sankara 32nd memorial anniversary since he was hacked down in a coup d'état by his most trusted friend and ally Blaise Compaoré who was also the number two man in the regime. He was hated by the west for his ideas and the resolve to crush him was not negotiable. 

His ideological leaning and agitation for debt cancellation and the need to stop accepting foreign loans were his most grievous sins. Just 4 years as the leader of Burkina Faso, his efforts saw the rapid transformation of the area that was riddled with illiteracy, sickness, poverty, starvation and hunger. He got his people to work on the challenges, reviewed existing laws that impeded development and provided a platform where people could dare to invent their future. In fact, he redefined leadership in the continent and did very remarkable things that the West had no option but to also acknowledge.

He was a leader par excellence, a pace setter and one who sacrificed his life even though he knew his friend had betrayed the cause of the revolution.

According to Sankara, "an aid dependent policy cannot help us organize. It simply enslaves us and makes us irresponsible. We have chosen to take risk and follow new tracks to be happy. We have therefore rejected once and for all, any ''diktat'' from outside our country... enabling us to create conditions for a dignity to match our ambitions. We reject the survival syndrome, we want to release pressures and free our countryside from repression and ultra- conservatism. We want to Democratise our society and open our minds to a universe of collective responsibility so we can dare to invent our own future".

As we mark his 32nd memorial anniversary today, we must reflect and draw lessons from his last OAU address in Addis Abbaba, since the challenges he predicted and preferred solutions to have become prominent in the continent today.

Credit: Andy Kaggwa Obeya

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