Who Killed Africa’s Che Guevara?

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On 15 October 1987, pan-Africanist leader and president of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara, was shot dead.

He was only 37.

Africa’s Guevara

Sankara, alias “Africa’s Che Guevara”, was a principled Marxist revolutionary who seized power in a coup at the age of 33. That year, his nation was reshaped and began experiencing a hopeful yet short-lived reign.

Before Thomas Sankara’s arrival, Burkina Faso was called Upper Volta by France. Refuting this colonial naming, Sankara changed it to the current name which means “the land of upright people” in Mossi, the nation’s most spoken language.

Outlining his political views shortly after becoming president, he said “the revolution’s main objective is to destroy imperialist domination and exploitation.”

His actions rang true to his words, as he fought inequality, expanded access to education, led the first AIDS awareness campaign in Africa, redistributed land, and banned female genital mutilation and polygamy.

To top it all off, he forced government officials to give up perks such as first-class tickets, and did not bow down to the demands of former colonial power, France.

His assassination

On the fateful day of his assassination, Sankara was only 4 years in rule when a hit squad led by his close friend, Blaise Compaoré, shot him and 12 others in the capital, Ouagadougou.

The assassination shook Africa to the ground: Ghana declared one week of mourning, while the Congolese radio lamented the loss of ''a worthy son of Africa'' and decried '' Compaoré's treason.''

Compaoré, who was at the time Sankara’s Minister of State, then went on to succeed the Panfricanist leader and stayed in power for 27 years.

The deed that went unpunished for 34 years is now haunting its perpetrators, as a trial in Burkina Faso has finally opened on Monday.

14 men accused of orchestrating the assassination are on trial in the nation’s capital, with Compaoré heading the list, despite being tried in absentia; He lives in exile in the Ivory Coast, and all extradition attempts thus far have remained ineffectual. 

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The trial has been described by several media outlets as one of the most highly anticipated African trials ever.

For years, allegations claiming France’s involvement in the assassination circulated, notably as Compaoré’s tenure was characterized by vehement support of “Françafrique,” an arrangement allowing France to continue pulling the political strings of its previous African colonies despite the official ending of its colonial presence. 

French President Emmanuel Macron has promised in 2017 to declassify all documents pertaining to Sankara’s case, with three batches of documents shared with Burkina Faso since then. Yet none originate from the office of the French president at the time, Francois Mitterrand.

Sankara’s widow, Mariam, told journalists during her arrival at the hearing that “it is a moment we have been waiting for.” 

After ousting Compaoré in 2014, the people of Burkina Faso elected their current president Roch Marc Christian Kaboré twice, who went to honor Sankara’s legacy by erecting a statue of the assassinated leader and opening a mausoleum, a cinema, and a media library in his name.

Today’s Burkina Faso is polarized and suffering from violence and desperation. The trial could give the nation a glimmer of hope by revealing the culprit behind their leader’s murder, and the colonial forces that stood behind them.