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Sangmpam → Sakina Badamasuiy → Sean Obedih → Uche Igwe → Z Allan Ntata → Z Allan Ntata and James Woods-Nkhutabasa You cannot kill ideas - Great African Leader: Thomas Sankara By Amaka Okechukwu Posted On 14 Feb, 2013 Tags : Thomas Sankara ‚ Great African Leader ‚ Burkina Faso ‚ Fred Swaniker - building the next generation of Af By Amaka Okechukwu Posted On 14 Jun, 2013 Komla Dumor – Challenging Conventional Wisdo By Sakina Badamasuiy Posted On 24 Jan, 2014 Eleni Gabre-Madhin - Never Cut Down Your Ambitio By Sakina Badamasuiy Posted On 25 Oct, 2013 Great African Leader - Claude Ake By Uche Igwe Posted On 21 Feb, 2013 Cecile Kyenge - Tackling integration in Italy By Nana SangBender Posted On 09 Aug, 2013 Nelson Mandela - An Ideal Worth Dying For By Amaka Okechukwu Posted On 18 Jul, 2013 It takes courage to become a serial entrepreneur & By Sakina Badamasuiy Posted On 19 Mar, 2013 Anas Aremeyaw Anas - The Faceless Activist By Amaka Okechukwu Posted On 14 Oct, 2013 Aggrey Otieno - Texting to Save Lives in Kenya By Afi Akolly Posted On 01 Nov, 2013 Hafsat Abiola - human rights and democracy activis By Amaka Okechukwu Posted On 15 Jun, 2014 COMMENT(S) ON THIS ARTICLE 1 total comment(s) ABIY commented on June 08, 2014 Reply 0 0 African history is dotted with great African leaders, the ones who championed the liberation struggles, the ones with bold visions, the ones who risked their lives for the people, the great orators – the Lumumba’s, the Nkrumah’s, the Azikwe’s. These leaders played a part, in getting African countries their much needed independence. However there are few leaders who blazed the trail in showing exemplary leadership post the struggle, who showed what it would be like to run a country to benefit the masses. Indeed, beyond the African continent, there are few leaders globally who have showed such exemplary leadership as Thomas Sankara. Thomas Sankara came into power like the revolutionary that he was, in 1983 following a coup d’état supported by the poorest people in what was then called Upper Volta. Once in power he began to put in place a string of policies to improve the lives of his people. One of the first was to change the name of the country to Burkina Faso (meaning “land of the upright men”). He also went on to change the country’s flag and national anthem. The change in the name of the country was only the beginning for Thomas Sankara. What is most impressive about Thomas Sankara’s period in government is his results. Not only was he a good orator, he produced the results to back up his words. Not only one to identify problems, he was good at problem solving. For example, after noticing the deforestation and desertification as a result of the Sahel, he started a tree planting campaign that resulted in an additional 10 million trees being planted in Burkina Faso. After noticing the millions that were not immunized in the country, he began an immunization drive to eradicate polio, measles and meningitis. The results were impressive: in one week, they managed to immunize 2.5 million people. Noticing the overstretched government accounts, he decided to slash the pay of civil servants, which gobbled up the majority of the federal budget. In doing so, his salary was one of the first to be slashed to a mere $450 a month. Not only did he slash the salaries but he cut out the unnecessary expenditures – one of which was to replace the official government car from a luxury Mercedes Benz to a cheap Renault. All public officials, including him, had to fly economy class on foreign trips. On the day he died, his only belonging s were three guitars, four bikes, a car, and a small house with no air-conditioning (a luxury he refused because the average person in Burkina Faso did not have access to it). He was a man who inculcated the spirit of service in the civil service– he got people to donate a month’s salary to causes. Not only did the civil servants sacrifice, so did the ordinary people. In a rare donation drive, he was able to get volunteers to build railway lines, some of which still exist today. This form of domestic aid, via volunteerism, is a model that most African countries can look towards to replace foreign aid. And not only did he serve his people, he particularly went out of his way to serve the marginalized communities, one of which was women. Thomas Sankara was one of the first leaders globally to not only recognize the importance and equality of women in society, but he was one of the first to start campaigning on their behalf. Ever the feminist, he started by hiring women to key positions of power in the government. He also created a national women’s day when the women would sit at home and rest, while the men would go to the markets and cook. This day, was constructed, to make the men value the women. In addition he abolished many of the discriminatory practices against women, abolishing female genital mutilation and forced marriages. To reduce the dependence on imports, that were bleeding the country’s coffers, Thomas Sankara went on to tackle the core issues preventing self- sufficiency. He redistributed land from the chiefs to the people who worked the land, and started an expansive irrigation and fertilizer program. In the four years that he was in power, Burkina Faso was able to achieve food self-sufficiency for the first time. In 1983 the country produced 1700 kg of wheat per hectare. By the time of Sankara’s death, the country was producing 3,800 kg of wheat per hectare. To reduce the importation of cotton, Thomas Sankara promoted the local cotton industry and made it mandatory for public officials to wear official clothes made from local cotton. Thomas Sankara was not without controversy. One of his most controversial moves was in firing teachers who went on strike with their union, a move he justified because the union was controlled by the opposition which was made up of the disgruntled elite. He also ran a very controlled state where political parties were not allowed, again because he believed they would be used as a tool for the disgruntled elite. Thomas Sankara’s form of democracy was unconventional, like the man himself, and was a form of direct democracy where the people had direct access to their local councils and decided on the local level what their developmental priorities would be. You can always deduce the character of a man by observing the nature of his friends. Thomas Sankara was loved by the poor and disliked by the middle class who benefited from the old status quo. For example, the tribal chiefs were used to receiving taxes and free labor from the poor and Sankara put an end to those practices. Indeed in the end, it was this middle class that led to his demise. His close friend, Blaise Campaore (who still rules Burkina Faso today), with the support of foreign powers, betrayed Thomas Sankara. And on October 15th 1987, he was shot and killed for his ideas, plunging the nation into mourning. 25 years after his death, as his country Burkina Faso remains poor, it seems like the Burkinabe are still mourning. So who is Thomas Sankara? An unconventional leader? An afro optimist? a feminist? A humble visionary? It is often best to judge a man by his results – 2.5 million people immunized, 10 million trees planted, sprouting of railway lines, and food self-sufficiency in 4 years. It is also often good to consider his words. Below are some of his most famous quotes On why he did not want his portrait hung in public places, as is the norm for other African leaders Sankara said: “There are seven million Thomas Sankaras” On the need to educate soldiers: “A soldier without any political and ideological training is a potential criminal ” On women: “Our revolution is in the interests of all the oppressed and all those who are exploited in today’s society. It is therefore in the interest for women, since the basis of their domination lies in the system through which society’s political and economic life is organized. By changing the social order that oppresses women, the revolution creates the conditions for their genuine emancipation.” On changing the name of the country to Burkina Faso: “We wanted to kill off Upper Volta in order to allow Burkina Faso to be reborn. For us, the name of Upper Volta symbolizes colonization .” On African pride and the importance of wearing African clothes: “These clothes should be worn everywhere – to work, in the street, while shopping, everywhere. Be proud of them, show that you are Africans. Never be ashamed of being African.” “You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future. It took the madmen of yesterday for us to be able to act with extreme clarity today. I want to be one of those madmen. We must dare to invent the future .” Following a request from one of his captains to arrest his best friend Blaise Campaore due to rumored assassination plots. On friendship: “It’s not up to us to betray, it’s up to them to betray” On democracy: “Democracy means using the full potential of the people. The ballot box and an electoral system do not prove the existence of democracy. There is no real democracy where those in power call elections from time to time and concern themselves with the people only in the run-up to an election... There can be no democracy unless power in all its forms – economic, military, political, social and cultural – is in the hands of the people .” Thomas Sankara once said that while revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas. There are few leaders in the world that one cannot afford to be ignorant about, Thomas Sankara is one of them. Amaka is the founder and Executive Director of afrimind. She can we reached on twitter @afrimindteam or via email on [email protected]
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 10:19:47 +0000
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