>
> Echoes of Revolution: Burkina Faso's Thomas Sankara
>
> Dominion, January 13, 2008
> by Stefan Christoff.
>
> http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/1599
>
> Thomas Sankara, the former president of Burkina Faso, a
> political leader
> renowned across Africa as a revolutionary, died 20 years ago in
> an
> assassination that sent political shock waves across the
> continent, marking a
> critical moment for progressive social movements in Africa.
>
> Burkina Faso, a small western African nation formally known as
> Upper Volta, was
> renamed Burkina Faso, meaning "the land of upright people,"
> after the 1983
> revolution that brought Thomas Sankara's government to power.
>
> As president, Sankara actively appealed for pan-African self-
> determination, for
> the full cancellation of foreign national debts across the
> continent and for
> liberation from apartheid in South Africa.
>
> "The question of debt is the question of Africa's economic
> situation, as much
> as peace; this question is an important condition of our
> survival," Sankara
> said as president.
>
> "The debt cannot be repaid. If we do not pay, our creditors will
> not die. We
> can be sure of that. On the other hand, if we pay, it is we who
> will die. Of
> that we can be equally sure."
>
> In 2007, Thomas Sankara remains a powerful symbol within
> grassroots social
> movements in Africa, as the 1983 revolution of Burkina Faso
> catapulted an
> alternative vision of African development onto the world stage.
>
> Revolution in Burkina Faso led to a national development model
> rooted in
> "self-reliance" and social solidarity.
>
> Burkina Faso presented a radically different concept of
> development to the
> charity model common today, strongly promoted by international
> institutions
> like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), or fashionably
> displayed through
> events such as Live Aid or campaigns such as "Make Poverty History."
>
> Independently driven development policies and an anti-colonial
> political
> platform brought international attention to Burkina Faso,
> inspiring grassroots
> social movements across Africa, and won Thomas Sankara powerful
> political
> enemies in France, Europe and the US.
>
> Ten years after the death of Thomas Sankara, the Montreal-based
> Group for
> Research and Initiatives for the Liberation of Africa (GRILA)
> launched an
> international legal campaign into the circumstances surrounding
> Sankara's
> death. In the courts of Burkina Faso, GRILA put forward a
> controversial legal
> challenge to the government of President Blaise Compaoré, a
> close ally of
> France who organized a coup d'état against Sankara and who has
> held power
> since. Compaoré is widely understood as having a direct role in
> Sankara's 1987
> assassination.
>
> After complete dismissal within the courts of Burkina Faso,
> GRILA presented
> Sankara's case to the UN Human Rights Committee. In 2006, the UN
> Committee
> ruled in favour of the International Justice for Sankara
> Campaign on behalf of
> Thomas Sankara's widow, Mariam, and his children, Auguste and
> Philippe.
> Aziz Fall is a member of the Group for Research and Initiatives
> for the
> Liberation of Africa (GRILA) and the international co-ordinator
> for the
> International Justice for Sankara Campaign. In this interview,
> Aziz Fall
> reflects on the case of Thomas Sankara 20 years after the
> assassination and
> outlines contemporary efforts to seek justice for the 1987
> assassination.
> ----
>
> Stefan Christoff: October 2007 marks the 20th anniversary of
> Thomas Sankara's
> assassination, to highlight this anniversary you recently
> participated in an
> international speaking tour organized by the Justice for Sankara
> Campaign,
> focused on the UN case surrounding Sankara's killing. In this
> context, can you
> reflect on the political significance of Sankara's case in
> relation to
> contemporary African history and also to international movements
> for social
> justice?
>
> Aziz Fall: First it's important to say that Sankara's case
> remains relevant and
> critical to the understanding the current debate on "African
> development"?
> This year is the 20th anniversary of Sankara?s death and for 20
> years the
> circumstances surrounding Sankara?s death remain unknown. In
> this context,
> GRILA recently won a major victory at the United Nations, in
> establishing a
> legal precedent against impunity in Africa. Until today, the
> official death
> certificate in Burkina Faso claims that Thomas Sankara died of
> natural causes
> and this is certainly not true.
>
> It is the first time within the UN system regarding African
> affairs that in the
> investigation of a case in the death of a former head-of-state,
> a UN body has
> ruled on the side of justice, outlining clearly [in its recent
> decision] that
> people have a right to know the circumstance surrounding
> Sankara's death and
> that the family has the right to be compensated.
>
> SC: In the context of the recent UN decision, why is Sankara?s
> death
> significant in terms of struggles for social justice in Africa?
>
> AF: Sankara incarnated the last African revolution, the last
> radical African
> experience of the 20th century; today, we can collectively
> reference no other
> similar political experiences in Africa. In the Burkina Faso
> revolution, there
> was the establishment of self-reliant development. Concretely,
> this meant there
> was a serious attempt on a national level to ensure that the
> peasantry would
> have the correct amount of food crop to supply the national
> population with
> nutrition, prior to considering the possibility of exporting to
> the
> international market.
>
> In Burkina Faso, on a national level, there was an effort to
> establish a model
> of self-reliant development in regards to food, education and
> healthcare;
> within four years, the national political mentality and national
> production
> model were shifted in a progressive direction that no other
> African nation has
> succeeded in achieving before.
>
> This political process had an enormous impact on the imagination
> of the youth,
> while also had an impact in regards to the neo-colonial
> framework of
> development within Africa, mainly in regards to the ongoing
> French influence
> over African development.
>
> France, in reality, hasn?t granted independence to the former
> colonies due to
> the neo-colonial economic development framework that it
> continues to impose on
> Africa. France utilizes mainstream development models to smuggle
> resources from
> Africa, to have easy access to valuable minerals, to have access
> and influence
> over the maintenance of a system of capitalist development in
> Africa. An
> economic development system that can only be maintained with the
> support of
> local puppets that are totally reluctant to listen to the
> grievances and
> demands of their own population.
>
> Sankara's project in Burkina Faso is certainly a project that is
> important to
> consider for Africa because it relates directly to pan-
> Africanism, the
> collective integration of the African nation-states, certainly
> an economic
> model that advocates something inherently different than NEPAD
> [the New
> Economic Partnership for African Development], which is actually
> a plan that is
> fostering relations between Africa and western nations. In
> reality, NEPAD can't
> be viewed or understood as an African plan for development.
>
> Today, Africa needs to outline an African plan for development
> and the
> development of a local or indigenous definition of development
> was fundamental
> to the economic program that Sankara was advocating. This is why
> Sankara died;
> this is why Sankara was assassinated.
>
> SC: What has been the echo-effect of Thomas Sankara--the way in
> which the
> legacy of Sankara's alternative economic ideas impacted all of
> Africa, the
> political and economic ideas that are being discussed today in
> Africa within
> networks advocating for social and economic justice?
>
> AF: In terms of civil-society: I must first admit that I have
> mixed feelings
> concerning the role of civil-society today, as major parts of
> "civil-society"
> on an international level have been co-opted by the
> international neo-liberal
> economic framework and institutions like the World Bank and
> International
> Monetary Fund (IMF). However, there are still very authentic and
> participatory
> elements to networks today in Africa that are labelled 'civil-
> society.'
> In this context, it's important to note the contemporary
> recognition of
> Sankara's economic and political ideas as models for exploring
> possibilities of
> self-reliant development models. It is interesting to note that
> the World
> Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, echoed the African Social Forum
> in recognizing
> Sankara's policies as potential models for self-reliant development.
>
> Today in Africa, there is a growing movement in support of
> Sankara, with
> political parties based on Sankara's ideas in Burkina Faso and
> Mali; this
> movement didn't exist while Sankara was alive, but is thriving
> today with an
> amazing number of associations, groups and organizations around
> Africa and
> abroad that are very active today.
>
> In 2007, I met with many organizations in multiple countries who
> continue to
> work on Sankara's case while also advocating for the political
> and economic
> ideas surrounding development that Sankara pushed while alive.
> Throughout our
> recent international caravan from Mexico to Europe, where we
> visited multiple
> countries, I was amazed by the crowds that welcomed us and the
> support and
> solidarity that we witnessed.
>
> Sankara's ideas are still extremely relevant today.
> Internationally, people are
> wearing t-shirts and buttons throughout the world, so Sankara is
> becoming an
> icon, which is not necessarily a good thing; however, it
> illustrates the
> support for Sankara's ideas today in Africa. Sankara is the Che
> Guevara of
> Africa, who died at almost the same age, at 37, accomplishing
> great things in a
> short time while operating with political honesty, with a total
> dedication to
> the people of Burkina Faso and Africa.
>
> African social movements continue to recognize Sankara?s legacy
> in terms of the
> demand for debt cancellation, an unconditional demand for
> cancellation of
> national debts, as part of an effort to change the balance of
> power between
> modern economic imperialism and Africa, towards the development
> idea of a true
> pan-African movement for liberation.
>
> SC: Can you explain for yourself why Sankara?s case is touching
> for you on a
> political level? How do Sankara?s ideas strike you? Why are they
> important to
> you as a social activist?
>
> AF: It's simple to understand. GRILA was born the year of the
> revolution in
> Burkina Faso, based on the same values that Sankara advocated,
> as GRILA shared
> a similar world view, shared a similar dream of establishing a
> self-governed
> model for development in Africa, which explains the attachment,
> the connection.
>
> Self-governed, or managed development, means that nations must
> rely on their
> internal forces first, before looking to external assistance.
> Development must
> be rooted in creating your own markets of consumption. A nation
> must feed its
> own population, which means that all citizens must have access
> to the national
> land, while the natural resources and mineral wealth should be
> owned by the
> people, not foreign companies.
>
> Sankara advocated for a model of development as focused on first
> fulfilling the
> basic needs of the population, including providing access to
> clean water, to
> quality education, to housing and healthcare. Once these
> critical elements are
> fulfilled on a national level, then you can adapt to modern
> economic markets
> and modern technology based on the rhythm of your own society
> and culture.
>
> Today, most African nations aren?t in a position to compete in
> the world
> capitalist market due to realities such as the subsidies within
> the
> agricultural market within European countries and the unfair
> nature of the
> international economic system. African nations must rely on
> their own forces
> first, while co-operating with other nations in the global south.
>
> SC: Sankara did not formulate ideas of economic development in
> Africa within
> the charity conception common within wealthy countries as a
> solution to the
> gross social inequities between the north and the south that are
> a pressing
> reality today throughout the world. Sankara didn?t ask for
> charity; Sankara
> demanded social justice, calling for self-determination rooted
> in a completely
> different social and economic vision to the charity model often
> promoted today?
>
> AF: It's important to remind people that the reality today is
> that
> "international development" is strategically assisting northern
> countries or
> developed countries. Fifty years after the establishment of the
> Bretton Woods
> system of international monetary management, with the creation
> of the World
> Bank and IMF, an economic system that still dictates large parts
> of the
> international economic system, poverty and inequity has only
> increased.
> In this context, it's important to note that the majority of
> development aid
> granted to southern nations is never truly received because all
> financing
> received is returned to the donor countries through debt
> payments. So the very
> tiny amounts of aid or charity that is given is returned, which
> is important to
> note, while direct aid only makes up only three per cent of the
> entire balance
> of international development, anyways. Charity from developed
> nations to the
> south, when reviewing the real statistics, has never actually existed.
>
> Additionally, it's important to mention that if the
> international economic
> system was truly fair, charity would not be needed at all. If
> international
> policies rooted in fair trade were applied, even in a
> capitalistic framework,
> charity would not be necessary as long as you maintain a
> balanced method to
> international trade.
>
> Today, the entire understanding of northern charity and the
> humanitarian
> framework in which international development is presented is a
> complete falsity
> rooted in propaganda, a false message that has been repeated for
> years. Thomas
> Sankara never believed in this propaganda, trying to push an
> alternative to the
> present model of international development, trying to ensure
> that international
> development projects in Africa were undertaken on African terms.
>
> Sankara created a consultation table between international
> donors to Burkina
> Faso, forcing Italy, France and England, for example, to sit at
> the same table
> and actually co-operate with the local ideas or concepts of
> development. For
> this reason, Sankara faced an international aid boycott, which
> forced Burkina
> Faso to rely and focus solely on national development, which saw
> the government
> begin the construction of national water dam projects, a
> national railway
> system using the local energy of their own population, not
> international donors
> or advisers.
>
> International development aid pulled out of Burkina Faso because
> the western
> donor nations were reluctant to be dictated conditions, because
> in fact it is
> the current international development system that dictates the
> conditions for
> development. So, for the first time you had a country in Africa
> putting forward
> a strong position that international development aid must be
> delivered and
> implemented only through the leadership of the local population.
>
> For this reason, Sankara's government became unpopular with the
> governments of
> Europe and North America. As soon as Sankara died, the strong
> position on
> insisting that the people of Burkina Faso play the central role
> in defining
> national development or the implementation economic assistance
> was reversed.
> After Sankara's death, all the international development
> agencies returned to
> Burkina Faso, achieving little in comparison to the major steps
> forward
> achieved throughout Sankara's government.
>
> Many international development organizations exist or thrive on
> the conditions
> of our poverty playing a large role in sustaining our poverty in
> Africa.
> Current models of international development thrive on creating
> dependency
> within the south, a development perspective in which you can't
> rely on your own
> people, resources or skills--a model of development based on
> reliance, not
> self-reliance.
>
> International development agencies mushroomed throughout the
> globalization era
> due to the downsizing of the state, due to the privatization of
> the social
> sector as pushed by institutions like the World Bank and IMF,
> which saw the
> creation of the NGO sector.
>
> Today, the NGO sector is unsuccessfully attempting to fill the
> void of the
> state, to support the type of social development in southern
> nations that
> governments traditionally have taken responsibility for.
> Development must be
> viewed as a central responsibility of national governments, not
> of the private
> sector, as the private sector exists simply to accumulate
> economic profit,
> which is priority number one, not the interests of the people.
> This is the
> context in which Sankara's economic policies for Burkina Faso
> were not
> supported by western governments or international development
> agencies.
> Sankara did win the praise of the World Health Organization
> (WHO) after the
> government of Burkina Faso managed to vaccinate the entire
> population for
> multiple diseases within one week. Sankara, with the exception
> of the WHO, was
> boycotted by many international institutions for the alternative
> or
> self-reliant development models adopted in Burkina Faso. It is
> for the
> revolutionary development and national economic programs that
> shook the
> foundations of the traditional economic development models
> imposed on
> Africa--which economically benefit European countries--that
> eventually led to
> Sankara's assassination.


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