Thomas Sankara to Get First Statue in Burkina Faso 31 Years After Assassination

Africa is revered for her mastery in storytelling but it appears our art of storytelling is not in the aspect of celebrating our heroes. Every country in Africa is covered with statues of white imperialists and colonial administrators, many streets and major attractions still carry their names till date; yet we develop cold feet when it comes to celebrating our heroes and immortalizing them as a way of preserving their legacy especially to generations unborn.

How can a man like Thomas Sankara, who gave his life for Burkina Faso and regarded as one of the greatest leaders to come out of Africa not have a monument in his home country. Apart from his grave, there is hardly anything tied to preserving the legacy of the revolutionary leader. This is sheer hypocrisy.

The first stone monument to the memory of Thomas Sankara was laid October 15th, 2018 in Ouagadougou, 31 years to the day after the assassination of the father of the Burkinabe revolution.

The bronze five-meter high statue, will be erected on ​​four hectares at the headquarters of the National Council of the Revolution, where President Sankara was killed by a commando on October 15, 1987 at 37 years old. A blow that brought to power his companion in arms, Blaise Compaore.

Several hundred people, including members of the government, attended the ceremony followed by a procession to the “Burkina” building in front of which President Sankara was shot dead.

Today, the heirs, friends, sympathizers in the entire nation want to raise him from the ashes, and where? On the council site where one faithful Thursday afternoon he left the meeting room next door, put his hands up and was taken down by the bullets of murderous traitors.

Thomas Sankara, who came to power in a coup in 1983, sometimes referred to as “African Che”, was facing a rising challenge in the country because of his uncompromising choices, while his denunciation of imperialism and his links with the leaders of Libya and Ghana earned him strong enemies abroad.