Page 49 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 13

Community

as exporting. So people would feel
pride in modern-traditional clothes,
in Burkinabe fashions and look Afri-
can instead of advertising coke and
blue jeans. All government workers,
teachers etc. had to wear Burkinabe
clothes.(This was actually not to
everyone`s taste so government
workers tended to have a spare out-
fit at all times in case Sankara called
by, they called the traditional clothes
the Sankara- is- coming- outfit).

Sankara started a mass housing
project and brick factories to build
homes so no-one would live in an
urban slum but would live with
dignity whether in the rural areas
or in a city. In 4 years all regions of A beautiful Burkinabe girl. Photo: Pixabay.
Burkina Faso were connected by a
network of roads. Sankara was the versive force counter-revolutionized Already by 1984 Sankara`s revolu-
first African leader to encourage people back into accepting western tion was influencing people across
people to take up sport or other economics; were the reasons for the continent, giving hope and ques-
forms of fitness as ” A healthy mind his political, ideological indoctrina- tions to people and giving ground
in a healthy body”. And Sankara was tion of the people. He forced into for fear from the imperialist powers.
the first president to speak about people`s minds progressive thinking
real environmentalism. He started and had them repeat mantras of The final nail in the coffin for this
a project to plant a grove in every how they were going to change the sublime hero of Africa was what
village, a grove of trees and shrubs future of themselves, each other he later said at the OAU summit in
to remind people to respect and and their country. These activities 1987. He asked the leaders present
protect the land. Tens of millions of were labelled by Western media as in the most affable manner to unilat-
trees were planted in under 4 years communist indoctrination meetings. erally reject African debt. “A loan
to combat desertification. During Sankara started the Pioneers Move- is a gamble, like in a casino,” he ex-
all of these programs Sankara got ment which trained children under plained that while African states re-
down and dirty; he personally plant- twelve in socialist ideology. He knew main in debt to the colonial powers
ed hundreds of trees, made bricks they would be the county`s future they will remain dependents. He put
and laid stones on railway lines, and his efforts were to oppose what forward an economic solution for
there were no tasks that he asked he knew would take place in West- Africa that is in complete contrast
people to perform that he wouldn`t ern-backed counter-revolutionary to World Bank policy and said “Let’s
do himself. This man was a hero . thought. His ideological training make sure that the African market
of the adult population was based belongs to Africans. Let’s produce
Within 4 years Burkina Faso had on a number of de-brainwashing in Africa, manufacture in Africa and
become self sufficient. The average techniques, to instil new positive consume in Africa. Let’s produce
for the Sahel region is 1700kg of thinking and confidence but also as what we need and consume what
wheat per hectare. In 1986 Burkina he said:”…. a soldier without any we produce.”…”The Debt problem
Faso was already producing 3900kg political or ideological training is a needs to be analysed starting from
of wheat per hectare. potential criminal.” He didn`t want its origins. Those who lent money to
Burkina Faso to ever become part us are the same people who colo-
Within Sankara’s understanding of of an orchestrated bloodbath run by nized us, are the same who so long
the nature of colonialism and how it armed men with no aim, no prin- managed our states and our econ-
had undermined Africans own self- ciples and only gain, which he saw omies; they in-debted Africa with
worth and within his understanding happening across Africa. `donations` of money. We were not
of neo colonialism and how sub- involved in the creation of this debt,

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