Thomas Sankara Assassinated (1987)

Thu Oct 15, 1987

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Thomas Sankara was a Burkinabé revolutionary who expanded social welfare and nationalized natural resources in Burkina Faso. On this day in 1987, Sankara was assassinated in a coup led by Blaise Compaoré, who succeeded Sankara in power.

Thomas Sankara was a Burkinabé revolutionary and President of Burkina Faso, assassinated on this day in 1987. A Marxist-Leninist and Pan-Africanist, he was viewed by supporters as a charismatic and iconic figure of revolution and is sometimes referred to as “Africa’s Che Guevara”.

Sankara came into power when allies instigated a coup on his behalf in 1983. He immediately launched programs for social, ecological and economic change and renamed the country from the French colonial name Upper Volta to Burkina Faso (“Land of Incorruptible People”), with its people being called Burkinabé (“upright people”).

Sankara’s administration refused foreign aid to remain politically independent, with him stating “Imperialism often occurs in more subtle forms, a loan, food aid, blackmail”. He also began nationalizing land and mineral wealth and promoted literacy, women’s rights, and public health.

On this day in 1987, Sankara was assassinated by troops led by Blaise Compaoré, who assumed leadership of the state shortly after having Sankara killed. A week before his murder, Sankara had declared: “While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas”.