<infobox> <title source="name"/> <image source="image">
</image> <group> <label>Aliases</label> <label>Relatives</label> <label>Affiliation</label> </group> <group> <header>Biographical information</header> <label>Marital status</label> <label>Date of birth</label> <label>Place of birth</label> <label>Date of death</label> <label>Place of death</label> </group> <group> <header>Physical description</header> <label>Species</label> <label>Gender</label> <label>Height</label> <label>Weight</label> <label>Eye color</label> </group> </infobox>Thomas Isidore Noël Sankara was a revolutionary, soldier and the former president of Burkina Faso from 1983 to 1987. Ideologically a Marxist-Leninist, Pan-Africanist, Feminist and Anti-Imperialist, he led some of the most ambitious and amazing reforms for ecological, economic and social change. However, the actions of the ruling class in Burkina Faso, the French (and possibly US) governments and his own government's centralised nature led to his downfall. He has often affectionately been called "Africa's Che Guevara" for his vision of a united, strong, equal and prosperous Africa.
Life
Assassination
In a coup supported by Burkina Faso's ruling class, France, the USA, Israel, Libya, Ivory Coast, Togo and Liberia, Sankara was killed in a gunfight, his body dismembered and thrown into an unmarked grave.
Positives
We try to avoid the conservative notion of 'Great Men in History' so when we say 'he', we are referring to the actions of his government and the collective work of the people in Burkina Faso.
- He abolished feudalism in Burkina Faso, stripping feudal landlords the rights to tribute, forced labor and redistributing their land to the peasantry.
- He increased food production from 1,700 kilograms of produce per acre to 3,900 kilograms of produce per acre in four years through the expansion of irrigation and provision of fertilizer and tractors. This turned Burkina Faso into a self-sufficient exporter of food.
- He helped supply 7,000 villages with nurseries and planted 10 million trees in an effort to reforest the Sahel, which was becoming drier each year thanks to climate change.
- He organised 2.5 million vaccinations against polio, meningitis and measles (in a country of 7.4 million).
- He lay 700 kilometres of new railway and financed the construction of new roads.
- He was the first leader in Africa to publicly recognise the AIDS epidemic that was ravaging the continent.
- He renamed the country from 'Upper Volta' to 'Burkina Faso', meaning 'land of the upright/honest man/men'.
- He banned female genital mutilation, forced marriages and polygamy.
- He appointed women to high governmental positions and encouraged them to work outside the home and stay in school even if pregnant.
- He encouraged the use of contraception.
- He encouraged men to cook, clean and go to the market to understand the experience of women.
- He increased life expectancy by a year in four years.
- He did all of this without taking loans or foreign aid, preventing other countries or the IMF controlling the economy.
Negatives
- The main negative established by his government were the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR)