Sankara, a charismatic Marxist revolutionary, was assassinated in the West African capital, Ouagadougou, at the age of 37, four years after taking power in a coup. Compaore was tried in absentia along with his former security chief, Yakinthi Kafanto, who was also sentenced to life in prison. Both had previously denied any involvement in Sankara’s death. Sankara and 12 of his colleagues were assassinated by a strike group on October 15, 1987, at a meeting of the ruling National Revolutionary Council. The massacre coincided with a coup that brought Sankara’s former partner, Compaore, to power. Throughout his 27-year reign, Compaoré strictly closed the circumstances of Sankara’s death, fueling speculation that he was the mastermind. Compaore continued to rule for 27 years before being ousted in another coup in 2014 and taking refuge in C Εte d’Ivoire. Captain Thomas Sankara in 1986, when he was president of Burkina Faso. Photo: Dominique Faget / AFP / Getty Images Sankara, often referred to as the African Che Guevara, came to power in 1983 after an internal power struggle at the end of a coup. At 33, he was one of the youngest leaders in modern African history and has become an iconic figure among a generation of post-independence African leaders. His socialist program of nationalization, land redistribution and mass social welfare was hailed as transformative, during a four-year rule by one of the world’s poorest countries – now in the hands of a jihadist insurgency in the wider Sahel region and a humanitarian crisis. The Sankara government has been credited with leaps and bounds in education and health care, social reforms to end polygamy and female genital mutilation. His strong support for independence from colonial rule in Africa, France’s denunciation of France’s ties to its former colonies, and its opposition to aid from Western financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund have made the 37-year-old dear. many on the continent. But his government also faced criticism for restricting press freedoms and political opposition in the country before he was killed.
