On 15 October 1987, the socialist president of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara, was assassinated, aged 37. He was killed in a military coup that is suspected to have been backed by France, the former colonial power.
In just four years, his government attracted mass public support by implementing numerous radical reforms to improve the quality-of-life for poor, working-class people and women. In particular millions of children were vaccinated against meningitis, yellow fever and measles, schools and hospitals were constructed, millions of trees planted to fight desertification, and the country became food sufficient. He reduced his own salary to just $450 per month, and the government reduced wages and perks for senior government officials, implemented quotas to increase the numbers of women in public life, combated female genital mutilation and forced marriages, and nationalised land and mineral resources.
The coup was orchestrated by Sankara’s former colleague, Blaise Compaoré, who established a dictatorship which would rule the country for the next 27 years, and undo many of the previous changes, by privatising public property. His government was backed by the US and France, and received funding from the International Monetary Fund, until it was overthrown in 2014 after a popular uprising.
Thomas Sankara assassinated - WCH | Stories
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