Thomas Sankara — Politicians

Summary

Updated 2026-06-09

He renamed his country, wrote its anthem, planted 10 million trees to fight the Sahara, banned government air conditioning, and was shot dead at 33 by the man who succeeded him.

Biography

About

Thomas Sankara became Prime Minister of Upper Volta in 1983, was imprisoned after political disputes with the sitting government, then seized power that same year in a coup staged on his behalf while he was under house arrest. At 33, he launched what he called a people's democratic revolution: renaming the country Burkina Faso in 1984, rejecting IMF loans, expanding agrarian land reform, suspending rural poll taxes, and running mass literacy and vaccination campaigns that distributed millions of doses to children. His government built schools, health centres, and water reservoirs, planted over…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Thomas Sankara

Thomas Sankara

said8 Mar 1987

The revolution and women’s liberation go together. We do not talk of women’s emancipation as an act of charity or out of a surge of human compassion.

— From a speech on 8 March 1987

Thomas Sankara

said1985

I would like to leave behind me the conviction that if we maintain a certain amount of caution and organization we deserve victory. ...

— From 1985 interview with Swiss Journalist Jean-Philippe Rapp, translated from Sankara: Un nouveau pouvoir africain by Jean Ziegler.

Thomas Sankara

said4 Oct 1984

We want to get our army involved with the people in productive work and remind it constantly that, without patriotic training, a soldier is only a criminal with power.

— From a speech to the United Nations on 4 October 1984

Thomas Sankara

said4 Oct 1984