On October 15, 1987, armed men burst into a meeting in Ouagadougou. Sankara told his colleagues: “It’s me they want. Stay here.” He walked out to face the attackers and was shot multiple times. The man who sent those soldiers was Blaise Compaoré — Sankara’s closest friend, his bandmate, his brother in revolution.Here is what they killed:🔸 In four years Sankara vaccinated 2.5 million children against meningitis, yellow fever and measles — in one week🔸 He planted 10 million trees to stop the Sahara advancing. Built schools and clinics in villages that had never seen a government🔸 He refused IMF loans, cancelled colonial debt, and told African leaders at the OAU to their faces: “Debt is neo-colonialism, in which colonizers have transformed themselves into technical assistants. We should rather say technical assassins” 🔸 He sold the government’s luxury cars and replaced them with the cheapest model available. His personal assets at death: a car, four bicycles, a refrigerator, and a broken freezer🔸 A 2015 autopsy — conducted after his body was finally exhumed — found Sankara riddled with more than a dozen bullets, including at least seven to the chest. His death certificate said “natural causes.” That lie stood for decades 🔸 His body was dismembered and buried in an unmarked grave. His widow Mariam and two children fled the country that night 🔸 Burkinabè investigators confirmed that the assassins left directly from Compaoré’s residence — some driving his personal vehicles. French agents were confirmed present in Ouagadougou the morning after the coup 🔸 France refuses to declassify its documents on Sankara’s assassination to this day. Macron promised to do so in 2017. Nine years later — still classified 🔸 Gilbert Diendéré — one of the commanders of Sankara’s assassins — was later awarded France’s highest honour: the Legion of Honour 🔸 The day after Sankara died, Compaoré reversed every nationalisation, called the IMF, took a $67 million loan, and flew to Paris to be warmly received France got exactly what it wanted. In 24 hours. Through Sankara’s best friend.Compaoré was eventually convicted of murder in 2022 and sentenced to life in prison — in absentia. He lives comfortably in Ivory Coast, protected by Alassane Ouattara, France’s most loyal ally in West Africa. He has never spent a single day in a cell. Sankara knew they were coming for him. One week before his death he stood on a stage and said:“While revolutionaries as individuals can be killed, you cannot kill ideas.” He was right. Thirty-eight years later, the man running Burkina Faso renamed the main boulevard in Ouagadougou after him. The boulevard used to be called Boulevard Charles de Gaulle.They killed the man. They could not kill what he built in four years with nothing.France still has the files. The world is still waiting. 🌍What would Burkina Faso look like today if Sankara had lived?
Source: History of Africa
