Thomas Sankara
Killed on 15 October 1987 in Ouagadougou in the coup that brought his former comrade Blaise Compaore to power in Burkina Faso.
Overview
Thomas Sankara, an army captain, came to power in Upper Volta in 1983 and renamed the country Burkina Faso, land of upright people, in 1984. His revolutionary government launched mass vaccination and literacy campaigns, tree planting, and land redistribution, promoted the rights of women, and rejected foreign aid dependency, while also suppressing opposition and trade unions. He was killed with twelve aides during a meeting at the headquarters of the National Council of the Revolution. Compaore ruled for twenty-seven years until the 2014 uprising. In April 2022 a military court convicted Compaore in absentia of complicity in the killing and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
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