Burkina Faso Marks 37th Memorial of Thomas Sankara

Burkina Faso’s President Captain Ibrahim Traore poses with the torch given by revolutionary elders during the ceremony for the 35th anniversary of the Thomas Sankara assassination, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Oct. 15, 2022. (AFP Photo)

Captain Ibrahim Traoré, President of Burkina Faso, has taken the lead alongside Burkinabé in commemorating the 37th Anniversary of former President and anti-colonial leader Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara since he was assassinated.

Traoré, in remembrance, wrote on Tuesday on his official account on X, expressing the “cowardly and ignoble” assassination of former President Captain Thomas SANKARA, whom he addressed as the ‘Father of the Democratic and Popular Revolution of August 4, 1983,’ alongside 12 of his companions.

On this day marking the 37th anniversary of this tragic event, I pay a vibrant tribute to this great visionary who has marked, and continues to mark indelibly, the history of our Nation through his integrity, his patriotism and his unwavering commitment to a dignified, free and sovereign Burkina Faso, the statement reads partly.

His fight and his vision remain a benchmark that guides our action and nourishes our commitment and our determination for the reconquest of the national territory and the construction of a new Burkina of peace, security, prosperity and progress for all Burkinabè, Traoré’s stated.

Sankara, known for his revolutionary approach to speaking out against colonialism and the impact of Western financial institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was assassinated on October 15, 1987, when he was 37.

Blaise Compaoré, among the 14 men accused of plotting Sankara’s assassination, succeeded Sankara as president — and stayed in power for 27 years from 1987 to 2014.

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Mayowa Durosinmi

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M. Durosinmi is a West Africa Weekly investigative reporter covering Politics, Human Rights, Health, and Security in West Africa and the Sahel Region

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