“The enemies of the people are those who deliberately keep them in ignorance in order to deceive them and enrich themselves at their expense. Ignorance is, without a doubt, our worst enemy; from it spring the corrupt politician and the repressive soldier.”

Imperialism had him dismembered, and then his remains were thrown into a mass grave; for years, the Western media, in their propaganda, branded him as corrupt… but when his belongings were searched, it turned out that Sankara had no money in the bank and lived in an old house where he had barely two guitars, a few books, and a bicycle.

They killed Thomas Sankara because of his great achievements and the example of dignity he set for all of Africa—because he refused to pay the colonial debt to the West and raised his people’s standard of living to unimaginable heights.

In just four years in power (1983–87), Thomas Sankara achieved tremendous accomplishments for his people:

  • Under Sankara, Burkina Faso was the first African country to investigate HIV as a threat to Africa, carrying out an unprecedented mass vaccination campaign that immunized more than 2.5 million Burkinabés (mostly children) against polio, meningitis, rubella, and other diseases in ONE WEEK.

  • He launched a nationwide mass literacy campaign, raising the literacy rate from 13% in 1983 to 73% in 1987—a 60% increase in literacy in four years—and building at least 350 new schools.

  • He planted more than 10 million trees to prevent desertification—one of the largest environmental campaigns in African history—and was the first African leader to launch a massive campaign against drought.

  • Under Sankara’s leadership, the Burkinabe people themselves built their homes, roads, and railways… without foreign “funding,” so as not to go into debt or become dependent on imperialism.

  • He appointed women to high-level government positions, established a “Working Women’s Day” on which husbands were required to do the shopping to put an end to domestic slavery, promoted women’s entry into the workforce, enlisted women in the military, and granted them six months of maternity leave following childbirth.

  • He banned female genital mutilation in the country, forced marriages of young girls, and polygamy, in support of women’s rights.

  • He redistributed land from feudal landowners and handed it directly to the peasants, which caused wheat production to increase in just three years from 1,700 kg per hectare to 3,800 kg per hectare, making the country self-sufficient in food.

  • He sold off the entire fleet of luxury Mercedes-Benz vehicles owned by the previous government and made the Renault 5 (the cheapest car in Burkina Faso at the time) the official vehicle for the entire government delegation.

  • Sankara imposed severe cuts… but not on the people—rather, on the politicians. He cut all ministers’ salaries and forced them to return to the standard salaries they had earned in their previous professions; he banned them from traveling first class on airplanes; he prosecuted the corrupt; and he made all government salaries public.

Source -> https://shitter.thepixora.com/DaniMayakovski/status/2110575896285356097#m