Captain Thomas Sankara’s Children Were Pedalled to School On  Bicycle

 

The Late Captain, President Thomas Sankara

We continue the conversation between Thomas Sankara’s Foreign Policy Adviser, Fidèle Kientega, MP, and Bubacarr Sankanu:

 

Sankanu: You said that Thomas Sankara’s father, Joseph, asked Blaise Campaore to go to him and seek forgiveness. Did Campaore honour this selfless expression of compassion?

 

Kientega: Campaore did not and this shows that he is not a great man. If it were me, I would have gone to the old man and knelt before him in repentance. Every human being needs to forgive and be forgiven. We all seek forgiveness from God.

 

Sankanu: What held Campaore back? Was it a guilty conscience, pride or cowardice?

 

Kientega: I believe it was a guilty conscience and everything that goes with it. Campaore betrayed friendship and holy trust. He lost his father at a very young age and it was Sankara’s father who raised him. He and Sankara were like identical twins but Campaore put power and money above humanity. Power exposes the true nature of a person because it gives him/her leverage over his/her fellow human beings. The way in which he/she uses this power over his/her fellow humans reveals his/her true character. Sankara had power but lived as a modest, poor and extrovert person of authority thus showing his true colours of humility. Campaore grabbed power and made fortunes with the blood of people but he is still not a happy man.

 

Sankanu: How rich is Campaore and how did he create his wealth?

 

Kientega: It is difficult to say how much he is worth. He is one of the richest African Presidents alive today. He allowed himself to be used and made lot of money in that process. Houphouet Boigny and France funded him massively. He got cash from Libya. He traded weapons and blood diamonds in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Angola. He had business deals with Jonas Savimbi and lifted oil in Angola’s name. The list is very long and dark. I read that, of the 36,000 pages of the UN Blood Diamond report indicting Charles Taylor, 9000 pages deal with Blaise Campaore’s shady activities both inside and out of Africa.

 

Sankanu: Is he still killing people to cling on to power?

 

Kientega: At the cinema hall, a Burkina Faso fan noted that the killing of Journalist Norbert Zongo in 1998 made Campaore realise that he cannot go on killing the same way as he had in the past. The public protests and anger that followed Zongo’s killing shook the roots of his government. He will continue to kill because he has already killed. Once a person kills a human being, he has already committed an irreparable crime. It does not matter how many people he kills afterwards and he will kill for the silliest of reasons. Campaore will go on killing but will not shoot people directly as before. He will use other means. For example, a grenade was thrown at a leading opposition politician, Clement Umaru Ouedraogo, when his car stopped at a traffic light.

 

Sankanu: Why?

 

Kientega: He was one of Campaore’s accomplices in the assassination of Sankara. He later discovered that Campaore had lied to him about Sankara, so he left his government for the opposition. Campaore saw him as a serious threat and wanted him out of the picture. Originally, there were four military leaders of the revolution and Campaore killed all of them to monopolise power.

 

Sankanu: Why is Campaore not willing to retire from office?

 

Kientega: He has killed so many people and has taken part in so many civil wars in Africa that he has no safe haven to go to after leaving office. He is afraid of joining Charles Taylor. He wants to die in power. He has transformed the village of his birth into a modern city and the unofficial capital of the country. He runs the government from there. He does not feel secure in the official capital, Ouagadougou.

 

Sankanu: I see a very dangerous trend in Africa through which democracy is being misused to impose quasi-monarchy on African voters. In D.R. Congo, Kabila’s son was made his successor. Fauré Gnassimbe succeeded his father Eyadema in Togo. Husni Mubarak of Egypt is grooming his son, Gamal. Ghadaffi of Libya is coaching his son, Saif. In Senegal Abdoulaye Wade is favouring his son, Karim. He created a Senate for what analysts see as a ploy to buy the support of influential Senegalese for his father-to-son succession plan. I understand that the children of Heads of State have the right to occupy public office if they are qualified just like every other citizen’s children, but enjoying an unfair advantage over other children makes democracy a farce. Are we seeing the same trend in Burkina for Campaore to handover to his son or, at least, to someone who will not prosecute him?

 

Kientega: African leaders who mismanage their national economies and commit crimes against humanity will fight to die in power or hand their countries to someone who can guarantee their safety when they lose it. All those who practise good governance would be willing to leave power without arm-twisting. For example, Alfa Omar Konare of Mali and Abdou Diouf of Senegal respected the rules of democracy and their hands were not dipped in blood or serious corruption. As for Campaore, his children are not old enough to succeed him any time soon. He is, however, grooming his younger brother, François Campaore, to be his anointed successor.

 

Sankanu: Well, JJ Rawlings of Ghana also killed so many people during his 20-year rule but he was indemnified to open the way for democracy. Today Ghanaian democracy is one of the healthiest in the developing world. Is Campaore not considering the option of immunity for democratic change?

 

Kientega: If he is willing to hand over power or accept election defeat in exchange for immunity, we will consider it. It is Burkina Faso that matters. We want justice but no vengeance or bloodshed. We Sankarists want development based on enlightenment. We are not brandishing knives and forcing people to change. We want change through education and informed decisions.

 

Sankanu: Speaking of education, Africa is suffering from a brain drain, which is blamed on the socio-political push factors and the education system. Our schools are only good at producing unemployed people who are finding it hard to apply their knowledge in Africa. Their skills, though urgently needed in Africa, seem to have more value in Europe, North America and other Industrialized Economies. Like the nurses, the medical doctors, the IT specialists, media practitioners, engineers, financial service personnel, etc. This shows that Africa is spending its money training its own people to be employed by other countries.

 

Kientega: This is the result of the colonial curriculum we inherited. The colonial education policy was geared towards producing bureaucrats for the colonial administration. Empowering the aborigines was not on the agenda. Since independence, some African countries have tried to reform the system and others are simply watching their children go to school to learn how to become jobless or illegal immigrants.

 

Sankanu: You served as Education Minister in the Government of Blaise Campaore from 2000 to 2002. What measures have you undertaken for Burkina Faso?

 

Kientega: Burkina Faso also inherited the colonial education system, which produces people for white-collar jobs. Most of our daily technicians like welders, masons, mechanics, electricians, etc, are Ghanaians. Ghana has reformed its education system. Going to a polytechnic or skills centre in Ghana is not seen as being inferior to a university education. The students of technical colleges emerge with the will to be self-employed entrepreneurs. They do not automatically queue for the few office jobs. They first apply their skills directly in the domestic economy and only when they see no future do they travel abroad. I wanted a similar reform for Burkina Faso. We have many nomadic pastoralist citizens who do not like leaving their children to acquire a Western education. For them I planned mobile literary schools and veterinary clinics for their children to take a break from cattle herding and at least, to learn how to read and write. For the rest of the population, I wanted an education system that produced self-reliant and skilled school leavers as started by Sankara. However, Campaore was not serious about this and so we left his government.

 

Sankanu: In 1987 Campaore offered you a job and you rejected it. How come you accepted to serve as Education Minister in his government 13 years later in 2000?

 

Kientega: Respect, dialogue, reconciliation and cooperation are part of the Sankaraism Doctrine. Since independence from France in 1960, Burkina Faso had not had a functioning government. Incompetence, coups, countercoups, corruption and civil dissatisfaction made it impossible for the people to feel a true sense of independence from colonialism. On the 25^th November 1980 Colonel Saye Zerbo took power and nine months later on September 9, 1981 he offered Thomas Sankara the post of Information Minister. Sankara rejected the offer, but people prevailed on him to use his know-how, energy and experience in dialogue to help speed up the transition to civilian rule. Sankara then accepted to serve, but resigned in 1982 in protest of the emergency powers of Colonel Zerbo that banned freedom of association. Sankara was detained. Colonel Somé Yoryan removed Colonel Zerbo in a Palace Coup. A civilian President, Jean-Baptise Ouedraogo, was named President and Commander-In-Chief. On the 10^th January 1983 Sankara was freed from jail and named Prime Minister. On the 16^th May (five months later) Sankara was arrested and detained at the instigation of French President Mitterrand’s Adviser on African Affairs Guy Penne.

 

The people were infuriated by this direct interference into the internal affairs of our country and Sankara was freed. On the 4^th August 1983 Sankara, together with Blaise Campaore and 250 men, marched on the capital, Ouagadougou. They sacked the government of Jean Baptise Ouedraogo who was like a provincial Governor of France. National Revolutionary Council was formed with Thomas Sankara as Head of State and Commander-In-Chief. Campaore became his Deputy.

 

Sankara did not just walk out of the barracks to take over the reigns of government. Two factors made his coup necessary: the lack of a functioning government since independence from France in 1960 and the Peoples’ Power. Without the people’s open call for change and clarity Sankara would not have staged a coup. He was arrested and detained many times before without seeking vengeance. He only risked the coup when the people said they had enough of governance crises.

 

With this lesson from Thomas Sankara, when Blaise Campaore invited us into Government of National Unity (GNU), we thought he was serious about national reconciliation, but it turned out that he only wanted to weaken us. He wanted to corrupt we Sankarists and stain our rapport with the voters. The results of the last general elections reflect the growing public desire for change and for Sankarism. We named our Party “Union for the Renaissance/Sankarists Movement” as we sensed strong demand by the masses for the revival of Sankara’s ideas. Today the Sankarists movement is the strongest political bloc in Burkina Faso out of power. Campaore wanted to benefit from it with his GNU trick. We left his GNU without selling our dignity for money.

 

In 1987 my principles stopped me from joining Campaore and, in 2000 it was the unanimous decision of our political party, which follows the reconciliatory principles of Thomas Sankara.

 

Sankanu: I am impressed to see opposition politicians who speak with one voice. In my country with exception of the Socialist PDOIS and the United Democratic Party top cadre, some the other opposition politicians behave like political prostitutes. One of the leading opposition figures in Dawda Jawara’s time, Sherrif Dibba, cheaply jumped aboard Jammeh’s ship. He was used as the Speaker of Parliament and was disgraced. His comrade, Gibou Jagne, has just accepted the job of local suburban administrator. Another leading opposition figure, Lamin Waa Juwara, who was fondly called “lion”, stooped low by accepting one of the lowest state jobs close to that of a village chief. The sad thing is that, when they are fighting the government of the day, they intensively lobby the support of their political parties and militants but when they are cross carpeting, they do it without even consulting their party loyalists.

 

Kientega: This is connected to the problems of leadership. Our African political elites moved into the residential quarters of the departing colonialists and became the colonisers of their own people. They care more about their fabulous lifestyles than the welfare of the people. See in the Ivory Coast how Rebel Leader Guillaume Soro and President Laurent Gbabo are behaving. Peace is good but their conduct is making people suspicious. Some of our political leaders do not speak well of politics. They disappoint the young people that once saw them as role models.

 

Sankanu: Some of our intellectuals are the worst. If they do not prostitute themselves to the politicians for a few dimes, they either behave arrogantly or perambulate around the town as cowards preaching fantasies. Tell me what you stand for as an Intellectual Sankarist?

 

Kientega: I stand for what the Baobab of Africa, Thomas Sankara and our Party, UNIR/MS, represent. This is liberation and prosperity through quality and appropriate education, respect for human dignity, working towards the unification of Africa, dialogue, reconciliation and freedom. Peace is good but one cannot enjoy peace without freedom. They are interdependent. The Algerians suspended peace and fought a bitter war with France in order to regain their freedom. Our African fight for independence was motivated by our desire to regain freedom, which was not available under the “colonial peace.” As a patriot, I must add that I do not believe in building a nation out of hatred. Hate begets hate and one cannot build a society on hatred. We want a country in which every compatriot is free to pursue his or her endeavours without let and hindrance. We want a revolution that will involve the people without blood spillage as Thomas Sankara taught us. You cannot keep changing a country just for the sake of change.

 

Sankanu: Please, tell me about the legal battle of Thomas Sankara’s widow, Mariam Sankara, before the UN Human Rights Council?

 

Kientega: We Sankarists, together with a collective of twenty- two (22) Burkinabé and international lawyers from Senegal, France, Canada and Togo and some human rights groups under the patronage of Mariam Sankara, filed a case against President Blaise Campaore before the UN Human Rights Council to compel him to explain the betrayal and assassination of Sankara. The UN body indicted him when it ruled in Madame Sankara’s favour by asking him (Campaore) to explain the cold-blooded murder and to arrange the opening of the archives in Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and France but he is afraid to cooperate. Instead he offered Mariam Sankara tens of millions of CFA, I do not know the exact figures, for her to forget the case. She rejected the bribe, saying that not everyone lives for money.

 

Sankanu: Blaise Campaore is refusing to cooperate. As Head of State he enjoys immunity and would like to die in power to escape worldly justice. Do you think the UN indictment will bring justice to the Sankara family and loyalists?

 

Kientega: The UN judgement might remain symbolic as long as Campaore enjoys immunity from prosecution as President. But the verdict carried so much weight that Campaore cannot defeat it with all his money and power. We have the “International Campaign for Justice for Sankara (ICJS) coordinated by Aziz Fall and supported by the Group for Research and Initiative for the Liberation of Africa (GRILA), which is keeping up the momentum. Aziz Fall and some activists have received death threats that are now under investigation by the Canadian police and secret service, CSIS. Our efforts are geared towards mobilising and maintaining an international civil rights campaign on behalf of Thomas Sankara, his family and loyalists. We will follow Blaise Campaore to every international event to make him feel uncomfortable. We want him to have sleepless nights by keeping the Sankara case in the public eye. He might end up cooperating or some of his associates-in-crime might bow to pressure by coming forward with valuable information and evidence about the events surrounding the 15^th October 1987. The UN verdict is a precedent against executive impunity and greed in Africa! Those who want to kill people to grab power will think twice.

 

Sankanu: I understand that Campaore tried to sabotage the 20^th commemoration of Thomas Sankara’s death. However, international commemoration has been taking place throughout the year in Mali, USA, Canada, Switzerland, France, UK, here in Germany and many other countries. How was the commemoration proper in Burkina Faso?

 

Kientega: It was similar to the day they killed Sankara. Campaore organised rallies to celebrate his 20-year rule. He wanted to keep the public away from our memorial events for Sankara. He hired buses and offered young people 2000 CFA (five U.S. Dollars) each as pocket money to attend his programmes. He offered free fuel to motorbike owners to attend his rallies. What happened was the young people took the money, the fuel and the buses and ran to our commemoration of Thomas Sankara’s death!

 

Sankanu: Campaore wanted to steal the show but ended up paying people to remember Sankara (laughs).

 

Kientega: Exactly. Even after 20 years of killing Sankara he cannot defeat him. The most interesting lesson is most of the young people were not born at the time of Sankara’s revolution and death. They heard about Sankara from their parents and elders. If Sankara’s revolution of 1983-1987 were a failure and a brutal dictatorship, the recollections of their parents would not have motivated them into immortalizing him.

 

Sankanu: During the film screening, there was a white lady who was reporting her experience in Burkina Faso. She said she undertook a long journey across Africa. In all the countries she visited, she was received with the colonial cliché of the white person coming to solve Africa’s problems. Children ran after her for gifts. Unemployed youths troubled her with all kinds of proposals, from city guide to marriage and sex. She said when she visited Burkina Faso, she experienced no such things. She was neither treated like a better human being nor was she dejected. She was treated as a normal person. Can you explain this?

 

Kientega: It is the result of Thomas Sankara’s fight for racial equality and harmony. I told you about his support for the Apartheid struggle. I related how Sankara helped the Burkinabé in the Ivory Coast to challenge the superiority complex of the Ivorians. He set up an Institut de Peuple Noir (Institute of the Black People) to help reverse the colonial teaching that the white race is superior to all other races. He fought against class difference in society. His children were pedalled to school on the back seat of bicycles. We raised concerns about their safety but Sankara said he wanted his children to grow up modestly like every normal Burkinabé child. Can you imagine the children of an African President on bikes to school? That was Thomas Sankara!

 

Sankanu: I must confess that I am uniquely impressed by your modesty. You respectfully turned down your hotel accommodation, you kindly returned the VIP protocol package arranged for you in your status as a Member of Parliament and you chose to stay with a simple family without extra requests. I have been receiving celebrities and VIPs since 2003 and I must honestly admit you are the first top-notch visitor with such impressive down to earth common man comportment.

 

Kientega: We thank God and Thomas Sankara for the inspiration.

 

Sankanu: I can say Sankara’s prophecy that “if you kill one Sankara, millions more Thomas Sankaras will keep up the fight” has come true. I am very proud to acquaint myself with one such Sankara in the person of the Honourable Fidèle Kientega.

 

Kientega: I am equally honoured to be with an enterprising young man of your valour.

 

Sankanu: Sankara dies Sankara lives. Vive Sankara!