Tag: Thomas Sankara

Who/What did we Celebrate in Africa in 2023?

On By Dr. Y.In Great Moments1 Comment

There was a lot to celebrate in Africa in 2023. Below are just a few in the sea of celebrations.

The different ministers of Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso met to sign the agreement (Source: https://thenews-chronicle.com)

1. In January, Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso, three West African countries , all of whom have recently undergone military takeovers amid rising public national anger against France, have agreed to a Bamako-Conakry -Ouagadougou axis, with enhanced cooperation on matters ranging from trade to the fight against insecurity. 

FESPACO 2023

2. The biennial African film festival, FESPACO, took place this year from 25 February to March 4. On March 4, the winner, Tunisian Youssef Chebbi won the Golden Stallion of Yennenga (Etalon d’or de Yennenga) for his film ‘Ashkal‘ which centres on the investigation into the killing of a caretaker on a construction site in Carthage on the outskirts of his hometown. This year, women directors were celebrated and took home the second and third prizes, with Burkinabe filmwriter Apolline Traore, who picked up the Silver Stallion of Yennenga for the film ‘Sira‘, while the Bronze Stallion was awarded to Kenya’s Angela Wamai for ‘Shimoni.‘ FESPACO 2023: Tunisian Film ‘Ashkal’ Wins the Golden Stallion of Yennenga, and Women Filmmakers are Recognized

Papal bull from Nicholas V (Source: © Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo (Lisboa, Portugal) – Uhem-Mesut.com)

3. In March, the Vatican rejected the ‘Doctrine of Discovery’ used to Justify Colonial Quest and Theft of Land. A Vatican statement said the papal bulls, or decrees, “did not adequately reflect the equal dignity and rights of Indigenous peoples” and “therefore [the Vatican] repudiates those concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of Indigenous peoples, including what has become known as the legal and political ‘doctrine of discovery.’” This is the first official acknowledgment of the Catholic Church for his first place participation in the enslavement of people around the globe, and particularly of Africans. We had published here Dum Diversas or The Vatican’s Authorization of Slavery, which highlighted the major role played by the Vatican in the slave trade of Africans over the centuries.

Inauguration of the Place des Tirailleurs-Sénégalais with Tirailleurs aged over 90-years-old on 10 March 2023 (Source: Sylvie Koffi, RFI)

4. Nine Senegalese tirailleurs, men who served for France for its liberation during the wars, have now won the right to receive their pension while living in Senegal. These men, aged 85 to 96 years, have served in the French army during the wars of Indochina and Algeria, and were forced to live in France at least 6 months per year to get their retirement pension! Can you imagine serving for a country that does not even want to pay you a dime for your services (remember Thiaroye?)? As a result, most of them never returned home. This year, they were able to finally go home. At Last: Senegalese Tirailleurs now allowed to receive their pension while living in Senegal

Zambian flag
Zambian flag

5. Following months of talks, Zambia successfully agreed new repayment terms with its state creditors on up to $6.3bn (£5bn) debt, including over $4bn owed to China. … Although the details of the deal have not yet been released [as always, populations are kept in the dark, while their future is being signed over], it appears that Zambia will be granted an extended repayment time of over 20 years, including a three-year grace period with interest-only payments. In recent years, the economic debt of Zambia has been making the locals apprehensive; this is a positive step. Zambia breathes a Sigh of Relief after $6bn Debt Deal.

Anatoli Kirigwajjo (Source: 256businessnews.com)

6. Anatoli Kirigwajjo from Uganda, the founder and CEO of Yunga, a local digital security network that enhances neighbor-to-neighbor safety, was awarded “The Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation” dedicated to developing African innovators, an award, founded by the Royal Academy of Engineering in the UK. In a modern world where drums are no longer used to alert communities, it is imperative to find a solution that will be used to alert all neighbors within a community of some impending issue. His innovation is based on the ancestral drum tradition, and the “10,000 household model” – a traditional practice where people use drums to alert their community in case of an emergency. Ugandan Engineer takes Africa’s Top Innovation Award for His Safety Invention.

Faith Kipyegon (Source: WorldAthletics.org)

7.  Africans made us Proud at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary. There were so many outstanding contributions, and amazing firsts. Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso who took home the gold medal in the men’s triple jump, thereby offering his country its first gold at the World Championships. Letsile Tebogo of Botswana made us proud by becoming the first African to win a silver medal at the World Championships ever in the men’s 100 m, and a bronze medal in the 200 m. Faith Kipyegon of Kenya delivered! There isn’t another athlete as consistently dominant over such a range as Kipyegon, and she was rightfully selected among the best African athlete of the year; at the world championships, she won gold medals in the women’s 1,500 m and 5,000 m in Budapest. Ladies Gudaf Tsegay, Letesenbet Gidey, and Ejgayehu Taye of Ethiopia dominated their events to give us a trio winning gold, silver, and bronze medals respectively in the women’s 10,000 m. Please check out the exhaustive list of winners.

Francis Ngannou knocking down Tyson Fury in the 3rd round (Source: Eurosport)

8. Francis Ngannou, professional mixed martial artist and professional boxer, of Cameroon made us proud in the “Battle of the Baddest” against the undefeated world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, which place on October 28, 2023, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ngannou was able to knock down Fury in the third round, taking the fight all the way to the scorecards, in which the judges awarded Fury the victory in a controversial split decision. To many, not just Africans, the real winner was Ngannou.

Map of Liptako-Gourma region (Source: aha-international.org)

9. Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger signed a Mutual Defence Pact called the Liptako-Gourma Charter, to protect their countries, and fight effectively against terrorists which have been occupying the northern parts of their territories. The Liptako-Gourma Charter establishes the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which aims to “establish an architecture of collective defence and mutual assistance for the benefit of our populations“, Colonel and leader of Mali, Assimi Goïta wrote on X. These countries have shown that we, Africans, can take care of ourselves, without the need of puppet organizations such as ECOWAS.

Flag of Ethiopia

10. Ethiopian-American Scientist Gebisa Ejeta receives US National Medal of Science, the highest state honor attainable by scientists in the United States for his work on sorghum, and he has developed a sorghum hybrid that is resistant to drought and parasites. Thanks to the conflict in Ukraine, a lot of Africans are turning back to ancestral grains native to their lands and alternatives to wheat. How Africa Copes with the War in Ukraine : Alternatives to Wheat and How Africa Copes with The War in Ukraine: Alternatives to Wheat – Ancient Grains? We applaud Gebisa Ejeta for his contributions.

Ibrahim Traore, President of the Transition, raises the new plate renaming the boulevard after President Thomas Sankara (Source: LeFaso.net)

11. On the 36th anniversary of Thomas Sankara’s assassination, Burkina Faso renamed Boulevard in Honor of Thomas Sankara; the boulevard, one of the main streets of the capital Ouagadougou, was previously known as General Charles de Gaulle Boulevard. Thus, Burkina Faso has replaced the country’s former colonial ruler with its very own leader and inspiration to the nation, Thomas Sankara. We applaud Burkinabes for doing this, and hope to see many African countries follow in their tracks, as many streets and cities still wear the names of European men who wiped out entire peoples (Brazzaville, Port-Gentil, etc).

Woppa Diallo and Mame Bougouma Diene (Source: The Caine Prize/Guardian)

12. Senegalese couple, Mame Bougouma Diene and Woppa Diallo, has made history this week by winning the Caine Prize for African Writing [Senegalese Couple Makes History by Winning Literary Caine Prize for African Writing]. It is the first time in the history of the prize that it is awarded to a couple. Diallo is a lawyer and activist while French-Senegalese American Diene is a humanitarian and a short-story writer. There were also lots of African writers who published acclaimed work this year.

Map of Mali with its capital Bamako

13. Mali military forces succeeded in Kidal where France and Allies could not! The forces were able to liberate the city of Kidal from terrorist groups where France and its allies and the MINUSMA could not. They succeeded in a few days, where it took years for France and co. On November 14 2023, president Assimi Goïta of Mali announced the liberation of Kidal, stronghold of terrorist groups for the past few years. The news was so stunning that even the BBC who has been calling the Mali government, ‘the junta’ and all sorts of names, and always showing ugly pictures of Assimi Goïta, had to, begrudgingly write the article and for once showed him in a decent image :).

Flag of Cameroon

14. Two Cameroonian Women win the L’Oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science. The two scientists are Sabine Adeline Fanta Yadang, a doctor of neuroscience, and Hadidjatou Daïrou, a doctor of cellular physiology, have won the prestigious L’Oréal-Unesco Young Talent Award for Women in Science for their work on the power of medicinal plants. Congratulations to those ladies.

Burkina Faso Names Boulevard in Honor of Thomas Sankara

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Ibrahim Traore, President of the Transition, raises the new plate renaming the boulevard after President Thomas Sankara (Source: LeFaso.net)

On the 36th anniversary of Thomas Sankara’s assassination, Burkina Faso rulers have officially renamed one of the main streets of the capital Ouagadougou, previously known as General Charles de Gaulle Boulevard, replacing the country’s former colonial ruler with its very own leader and inspiration of the nation, Thomas Sankara.

The event took place on October 15 at the Thomas Sankara Memorial in Ouagadougou. Attendees included relatives of the late leader, the president of the transition, Ibrahim Traore, and government officials were in Ouagadougou. During this ceremony, President Thomas Sankara was elevated to the rank of hero of the nation.

“We are heirs of the revolution” by Thomas Sankara

“Article 1. The late Captain Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara is recognised as a Hero of the Nation […] The day of homage to the late Captain Isidore Thomas Noël Sankara is to be celebrated every 15th of October in Ouagadougou,” Bassolma Bazié, Minister of the Civil Service of Burkina Faso said.

The President of the transition, captain Traoré, laid the foundation stone for the Thomas Sankara mausoleum. The mausoleum will be built on the very site of the assassination of Thomas Sankara and of 12 of his companions. The Memorial complex will contribute to the strengthening of national unity, the valorization of history and collective memory, the revival of tourism in Burkina Faso, the revitalization of cultural and creative industries, the blossoming of science productions and education.

Ibrahim Traore lays the foundation for the Thomas Sankara Mausoleum (Source: LeFaso.net)

The boulevard, previously known as Boulevard Charles de Gaulle, adjoining the memorial, has been renamed after the panafricanist icon and former president Thomas Sankara.

“Today the Boulevard has been named Boulevard Thomas Sankara instead of Boulevard Charles de Gaulle. So today we’re very proud. Because if the Boulevard had been named after imperialists, today we think that we also have heroes, we also have valiant Burkinabe [after whom we] can name these Boulevards or streets […]” [Africanews]

Let’s have Millions of African Leaders: Be the Leader You Want to Have!

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Africa

Recently, I was having a conversation with a friend about leadership in Africa: the endless complaints about our poor leadership, or the killing of our good leaders, and then my friend said talking about Mali, “I wish we had more Assimi Goïta, Choguel Maïga, Abdoulaye Maïga, … on the continent.” Although my heart warmed at this statement, it reminded me that the fight starts at the bottom with each of us. We have to be the leader we want to see; we have to be the Assimi we want to have as a leader. Leadership starts with us, at the individual level. We cannot leave all the task to Assimi or whoever is at the head, we have to do our part; that is the only way to move forward. Otherwise, if something happens to the leader, what will become of our cause? In the article “How do We Continue the Fight when the Head has been Cut Off?”, I wrote, “the prize of freedom is too great to lay on the shoulders of one man, one leader, or a few… we do not follow men, we follow ideas… we are not fighting for men, we are fighting for our right to dignity, our right to humanity, our liberty.“

African Renaissance Monument in Dakar (Wikipedia)

Very often it is said among Africans, that we have the leaders we have because that is, at the root, who we are. When you have watched Thomas Sankara, Amilcar Cabral, Patrice Lumumba, Samora Machel, Modibo Keita, Kwame Nkrumah, Ruben Um Nyobe, Felix Moumie, Sylvanus Olympio, Ernest Ouandie, Barthelemy Boganda, Mehdi Ben Barka, Muammar Kadhafi, and many others get assassinated by or in conjunction with foreign forces because of their vision for their countries, it is easy to cower away, and just bend the heads and accept whatever comes in silence. However, cowering in silence, perpetuates the problem endlessly. People often say, we all come on earth and will have to leave at some point, why not leave with dignity? Why cower away? If we start at our level, getting involved in our communities, doing our part (whatever our talents are), being there for each other, do you really think corruption will persist? Let us not wait for Messiahs (and we know how rare those are), but let us start laying the bricks to the foundation of the home we want to live in.  If you are an educator, make sure to lay the foundation for the best education possible; if you are a brick layer, do your work with integrity; if you are an okada driver, drive with integrity; if you are a housewife, raise the next leader; if you are a business man, make sure honesty is at the core of your business; if you are a student, arm yourself to be the next leader; … If you want to be led by honest people, then deal with honesty in your daily encounters; if you want to have a transparent government, start with transparency at your level, etc. As my favorite quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr goes, “ If you are called to be a street sweeper, sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, “Here lived a great sweeper who did his job well.” ” We all play a part in this whole that is our homeland, and each one of us is needed!

Thomas Sankara once said in one of his interviews, “if you kill Sankara, you will have a million Sankaras.” Let’s have a million Assimi Goïta, a million Choguel Maïga! Let us have millions of African leaders! Let us have a billion exemplary leaders and more!

Thomas Sankara re-Burial Boycotted by Family

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“We are heirs of the revolution” by Thomas Sankara

Almost 4 decades after Thomas Sankara and his 12 companions were treacherously murdered, they are given a burial at the memorial erected in Sankara’s honor in front of the place where they were assassinated, at the Conseil de l’Entente. His family has boycotted the ceremony because, as they say, how can you bury such a hero in the place where he was murdered? In a press release, they said, “We believed and continue to believe that it is fundamental that a space be found that allows to gather and appease hearts, and not to divide and increase resentment,” the Sankaras added in their statement on Sunday, calling the place chosen by the government “conflictual and controversial”. I know that Thomas Sankara now belongs to the entire nation of Burkina Faso, and even to the continent of Africa, but shouldn’t his family have a say as to where he is buried?

At the time of Thomas Sankara and companions’ murders in 1987 ordered by Blaise Compaore and his croonies, Sankara and his comrades were buried in some common fields with no names. Later, their bodies were exhumed in 2015 for legal proceedings.

What do you think? Is it okay to bury Thomas Sankara, our true panafricanist and anti-imperialist revolutionary, who fought for our freedoms, in the place where he was murdered?

As Sankara always said, Homeland or death, we shall overcome!

Burkina Faso 35 years after Thomas Sankara’s Murder

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Thomas Sankara
Thomas Sankara a Ouagadougou

The coup d’etat which just happened a little over 2 weeks ago in Burkina Faso on September 30, 2022, marks the need for Burkinabe and Africans in general to be in charge of their own destinies. We have the land, we have the resources, we should be in charge of our own destiny. We can no longer be ‘partners’ (more like slaves) to a master (France and the West) which takes all our resources while leaving us dirt poor. We deserve dignity, and are going to reclaim our territories, in the case of Burkina Faso or Mali, territories stolen by terrorists armed by foreign powers; we are going to reclaim our resources, and more importantly reclaim our lives, and our futures. As we mark the 35th anniversary since the murder of Thomas Sankara, president of the Faso, his widow Mariam Sankara gave a speech which can be found in its entirety on ThomasSankara.net. I have translated parts of it. Enjoy!

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Flag of Burkina Faso

The date of April 6, 2022 will remain engraved in the history of our country as an important moment during which the justice of Burkina Faso sanctioned the assassins of President Thomas Sankara and his 12 companions in misfortune (Verdict Guilty: Blaise Compaoré Guilty of the Murder of Thomas Sankara).

Once again, I would like to thank you all for your support before and during this first part of the trial. My thanks go to the family lawyers, to the organizers of the “fight against impunity, justice for Thomas Sankara” campaign, to militant Africa in general, to the associations of Burkina, to the Diaspora, to the people of Burkina Faso and to the friends from Burkina Faso.

However, we must know that our struggle is not over. …

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Burkina Faso
Map of Burkina Faso

.. Burkina, as we all know, is going through a serious period in its history due to the destabilization imposed on it by terrorists supported by shadow forces. These forces want to wipe our country off the map of the world. This project is unacceptable.

We must all opt for the support of our security forces, the families of the victims and those displaced by war, who number in the thousands.

Admittedly, we must rely on our own strengths, but it is imperative that we call on honest and credible partners, if necessary.

May Burkinabè patriotism serve as a compass for the final victory against terrorism, for social cohesion and for the prosperity of our country.

Fatherland or death, we will win!

Mariam Sankara, Montpellier 15 October 2022

Mixed Reactions to Compaoré’s ‘Apology’

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Flag of Burkina Faso

Compaoré’s apology last week raised mixed reactions [Blaise Compaore Apologizes for Thomas Sankara’s Death?]. Almost everybody could smell the trap… It turns out that Compaoré is friend with the current military ruler, and has even visited Ouagadougou, the capital, last month even though he has been found guilty by the country’s courts [Verdict Guilty: Blaise Compaoré Guilty of the Murder of Thomas Sankara].  Many think that he wants a presidential pardon! The coward! See… I always told you that Compaoré is really a coward, always has been, and always will be. After all, he is the one who has changed his citizenship to become Ivorian so as not to be extradited. Imagine that, a man who held the highest position of a nation, finishes and changes his citizenship like some common person… such a coward! Anyways, below are excerpts from AfricaNews.

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Compaore’s apology, issued on Tuesday is leaving mixed reactions as Burkinabe citizens consider the manner and sincerity of the former head of state Blaise Compaoré’s request for pardon.

If they had simply put at the end of the letter, ‘I place myself at the disposal of my country’s justice system’, I would have applauded.” says one passer-by.

… Compaore seized power in the West African nation in a 1987 coup in which Sankara was gunned down by a hit squad. The violent death of his former comrade-in-arms was a taboo subject throughout his 27 years in power.

A Burkina court handed him a life term in absentia in April for his role in the assassination.

… Luc Damiba, Secretary General of the Thomas Sankara International Committee Memorial is disappointed.”You have not been condemned or punished yet nor have you recognised your acts” he says of Compaore.

”You deny justice, even defy it and at the end of the chain, when you see that there is no other way out, you come and ask for forgiveness. It’s a forced pardon! It’s as if he was forced to ask for forgiveness.” Damiba lamented. He went further and blasted the apology as “a masquerade… a kind of diversion that he is sowing in people’s minds“.

Compaore’s goal, he said, was “to be able to return to Burkina and get a presidential pardon“.

Blaise Compaore returned to Burkina Faso for several days this month, without facing arrest, after the country’s military leader Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba invited him in the name of “national reconciliation“.

The visit sparked an outcry among civil society groups and political parties, who said uniting the nation should not come at the expense of impunity.

Blaise Compaore Apologizes for Thomas Sankara’s Death?

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Thomas Sankara
Thomas Sankara a Ouagadougou

Yes you are not dreaming, nor am I joking. Blaise Compaoré, the past president of Burkina Faso, the one who murdered his friend and comrade President Thomas Sankara, has ‘apologized’ to his family. Is it for real? What is going on? Is Compaoré dying? Why the sudden regrets? or is he hoping to come back in power with the new military ruler? Should we applaud for him? NO! We are candidly interested in your apologies… but brother Compaoré, you need to pay! Tell us how you did it! Give us details! Tell us, who helped you; tell us where our brothers, mothers, sisters, fathers bodies are, and share some of the wealth you have acquired illicitly on our backs for the many years of regression and suffering at your hand. And what about Norbert Zongo [May 3rd: World Press Day – Norbert Zongo]? And then, the message read by the speaker goes, “I hope that we can move forward from now on …” Wait a second, so you can send a letter read by someone else, and you expect us to clap and just turn the page? Oh, I am so sick of people saying words, no actions, and expecting us to just forget, and move on! Actions speak louder than words! As you read, do you think Compaoré is really sorry? Excerpts below are from the BBC.

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Flag of Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso’s ex-President Blaise Compaoré has apologised to the family of Thomas Sankara, his charismatic predecessor who was shot dead during a coup in 1987.

In April, Mr Compaoré was sentenced in absentia to life in prison for his role in the assassination. He had always described the death as an accident [Verdict Guilty: Blaise Compaoré Guilty of the Murder of Thomas Sankara].

Mr Compaoré has lived in exile in neighbouring Ivory Coast since 2014 when he was ousted in a popular uprising after 27 years in power [Who/What did we Celebrate in Africa in 2014?].

“I ask the people of Burkina Faso to forgive me for all the acts I committed during my term of office, especially to the family of my brother and friend Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara,” Mr Compaoré said in a statement.

“I take responsibility and deplore, from the bottom of my heart, all the sufferings and dramas experienced by all the victims during my mandates at the head of the country and ask their families to forgive me. I hope that we can move forward from now on to rebuild our common destiny on the land of our ancestors.”

The message was delivered to military ruler Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who took power in a coup in January, by an Ivorian delegation accompanied by the former president’s daughter Djamila Compaoré.

…

Verdict Guilty: Blaise Compaoré Guilty of the Murder of Thomas Sankara

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Thomas Sankara

On Wednesday 06 April 2022, a court in Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso (Who killed Thomas Sankara? The Trial starts in Burkina Faso) has found the former president Blaise Compaoré guilty of the murder of president Thomas Sankara. In reality, it was no secret that Compaoré had killed Sankara, his former friend and companion of arms. We all knew who did it, but during Compaoré’s 27-year reign, Sankara’s demise was taboo, plus the French government’s complicity in it did not help either. Given that Compaoré is now in exile in Ivory Coast, the condemnation is in absentia, and the sentence is life imprisonment. Two of Compaoré’s former top associates, Hyacinthe Kafando and Gilbert Diendéré, were also sentenced to life imprisonment. Compaoré will probably never set foot in Burkina Faso again, especially given that as the coward that he is, he now has Ivorian nationality so as not to get extradited. It took over 34 years to begin to bring some sense of closure to the family of Thomas Sankara and to all of us. Sankara’s widow, Mariam Sankara said at the courthouse, that she was relieved, and stated, ” … the people of Burkina Faso and the public opinion know now who is Thomas Sankara, … the man, … the politician, … what he wanted and what those who assassinated him wanted too.”

Flag of Burkina Faso

This is a monumental decision not just for Burkina Faso, but for the whole of Africa. It also shows that we, Africans, do not need the Hague Court to judge our own, and that we can make correct decisions. As such the lawyer for the Sankara family, Guy Hervé Kam stated to Reuters, “Today I am very proud to see the culmination of a legal battle of almost 30 years, proud to have a country where justice works.”

Below are excerpts from the BBC.

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Blaise Compaoré

Burkina Faso’s former President Blaise Compaoré has received a life sentence in absentia for his role in the assassination of his charismatic predecessor, Thomas Sankara.

Sankara, 37, was gunned down along with 12 others during the 1987 coup d’état that brought Compaoré to power. The pair had been close friends and had jointly seized power in 1983. 

Sankara remains a hero for many across Africa because of his anti-imperialist stance and austere lifestyle. …

He was shot in the chest at least seven times, according to ballistics experts who testified during the trial.

… the verdict was greeted by applause in the courtroom following the six-month trial that came after years of campaigning for justice by his family and supporters.

… However, there is little prospect that Compaoré will serve his sentence any time soon. He has lived in exile in Ivory Coast since he was removed from office following mass protests in 2014, and has taken up Ivorian nationality. He previously denounced the trial by a military court as a political sham. …

Ten others were also found guilty, including Compaoré’s security chief Haycinthe Kafando, who was accused of leading the hit squad that killed Sankara. He has been on the run for several years and was also tried in absentia. He too received a life sentence. They had both denied the charges.

Gilbert Diendéré, one of the commanders of the army during the 1987 coup and the main defendant who was actually present at the trial, was also sentenced to life. He is already serving a 20-year sentence for a coup attempt in 2015.

… Eight other defendants received sentences ranging from three to 20 years, while three defendants were acquitted.

…

Thomas Sankara’s Murder Trial on Hold

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Thomas Sankara
Thomas Sankara a Ouagadougou

The trial to find Thomas Sankara‘s murderers (Who killed Thomas Sankara? The Trial starts in Burkina Faso) has been halted because of last week’s coup in Burkina Faso which saw the removal of president Roch Kaboré (2022 Burkinabé coup d’état). This adds to the fragility of the entire region, where the métropole (France) is impoverishing and destroying the countries it claims to be helping. As always, the ghostly/nonsensical organization that is ECOWAS (CEDEAO) with its nonsensical rules that only favor the old colonial powers came out with some ‘sanctions’. Below are excerpts from the article on ABC News.

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BurkinaFaso6
Flag of Burkina Faso

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — The long-awaited trial on the killing of Thomas Sankara, Burkina Faso’s influential leftist leader killed more than three decades ago, has been suspended as a result of the West African country’s recent coup.

The trial has been paused until the constitution is reestablished, a lawyer for the prosecution said Monday.

The suspension comes one week after a military junta overthrew President Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, suspended the constitution and dissolved the national assembly.

Prosper Farama, one of the lawyers for the Sankara family called the suspension a good thing that would respect everyone’s rights. “We have to be patient until the constitution is reestablished for things to be legal,” he said.

… Fourteen people are being charged for Sankara’s killing, including former President Blaise Compaore, who ousted Sankara in a 1987 coup. Compaore is charged with complicity, undermining state security and concealing corpses, according to military documents seen by The Associated Press. He’s being tried in absentia, as he has been in exile in Ivory Coast since he was toppled in 2014.

… “As young Sankarists, we are very worried about the suspension of the trial,” said Passamde Occean Sawadogo a singer and activist. “We remain vigilant so that nothing can jeoparidze the trial’,” he said.

Who killed Thomas Sankara? The Trial starts in Burkina Faso

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We all know who killed Thomas Sankara… and we all know that it was an international affair with Blaise Compaoré at the center, France, Felix Houphouet-Boigny of Cote d’Ivoire and even Liberians… we all know… but with all the cover-ups, and the powerful owing the justice, will we, citizens of Burkina Faso and Africa ever get justice for Thomas Sankara and his family? Well, the trial started this past Monday in Ouagadougou, without the main actor Blaise Compaoré, the coward previous president of Burkina Faso who got Ivorian citizenship to avoid getting extradited to face his crimes against the people of Burkina Faso… really a coward… how could someone like that have ever governed people? Excerpts below are from the BBC. Enjoy!

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Thirty-four years, almost to the day, since the shocking killing of Burkina Faso‘s then President, Thomas Sankara, 14 men are going on trial, accused of complicity in the murder of the man known as “Africa’s Che Guevara”.

The charismatic Pan-Africanist was shot dead aged 37 by soldiers during a coup on 15 October 1987, which saw his close friend, Blaise Compaoré, come to power.

Four years previously, the pair had staged the takeover which saw Sankara become president.

Mr Compaoré is among the 14 accused but he is currently in exile in neighbouring Ivory Coast, where he fled after being forced to resign during mass protests in 2014. He has repeatedly denied involvement in Sankara’s death and is boycotting the trial.

“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” the former president’s widow Mariam Sankara told the BBC. “I want to know the truth, and who did what.”

Sankara remains something of an icon across Africa – … across the continent in South Africa, radical opposition leader Julius Malema cites him as one of his inspirations.

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