Age, Biography, and Wiki
Thomas Sankara was born on December 21, 1949. He rose to prominence as a military officer and then became the President of Burkina Faso in 1983. During his tenure, he implemented significant reforms aimed at reducing inequality and increasing self-sufficiency in the country. He was known for his charismatic leadership and his vision for a more equitable society. Sankara's legacy is deeply rooted in his commitment to Pan-Africanism and Marxism, which guided his policies and actions.
| Occupation | Prime Ministers |
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| Date of Birth | 21 December 1949 |
| Age | 75 Years |
| Birth Place | Yako, Upper Volta, French West Africa |
| Horoscope | Sagittarius |
| Country | Burkina Faso |
| Date of death | 15 October, 1987 |
| Died Place | Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso |
Height, Weight & Measurements
There is no widely available information on Thomas Sankara's height, weight, or other physical measurements. His focus on leadership and social change rather than personal appearance or wealth makes such details less relevant to his legacy.
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Dating & Relationship Status
Thomas Sankara was married to Mariam Sankara, who has spoken highly of his integrity and leadership qualities. There is no extensive documentation on his personal relationships beyond his marriage.
His father, Joseph Sankara, a gendarme, was of Silmi–Mossi heritage, while his mother, Marguerite Kinda, was of direct Mossi descent. He spent his early years in Gaoua, a town in the humid southwest to which his father was transferred as an auxiliary gendarme. As the son of one of the few African functionaries then employed by the colonial state, he enjoyed a relatively privileged position. The family lived in a brick house with the families of other gendarmes at the top of a hill overlooking the rest of Gaoua.
Sankara attended primary school at Bobo-Dioulasso. He applied himself seriously to his schoolwork and excelled in mathematics and French. He went to church often and, impressed with his energy and eagerness to learn, some of the priests encouraged Thomas to go on to seminary school once he finished primary school. Despite initially agreeing, he took the exam required for entry to the sixth grade in the secular educational system and passed. Thomas's decision to continue with his education at the nearest lycée, Ouezzin Coulibaly (named after a pre-independence nationalist), proved to be a turning point. He left his father's household to attend the lycée in Bobo-Dioulasso, the country's commercial centre. There Sankara made close friends, including Fidèle Too, whom he later named a minister in his government; and Soumane Touré, who was in a more advanced class.
His Roman Catholic parents wanted him to become a priest, but he chose to enter the military. The military was popular at the time, having just ousted Maurice Yaméogo, an unpopular president. Many young intellectuals viewed it as a national institution that might potentially help to discipline the inefficient and corrupt bureaucracy, counterbalance the inordinate influence of traditional chiefs, and generally help modernize the country. Acceptance into the military academy was accompanied by a scholarship; Sankara could not easily afford the costs of further education otherwise. He took the entrance exam and passed.
Former Sankara aide Paul Michaud wrote that Sankara had intended to provoke Mali into conflict with the aim of mobilizing popular support for his regime. According to Michaud, "an official—and reliable—Malian source" had reported that mobilization documents dating to 19 December were found on the bodies of fallen Burkinabé soldiers during the ensuing war.
* He was known for jogging unaccompanied through Ouagadougou in his track suit and posing in his tailored military fatigues, with his mother-of-pearl pistol.
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| Husband | Mariam Sankara |
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Net Worth and Salary
As President, Thomas Sankara took a significant stance on simplicity and integrity. He reduced his own salary to $450 per month and limited his possessions to a car, four bicycles, and a few personal items. His net worth was not focused on material wealth but on the impact of his policies and leadership. Sankara's approach to wealth was more about reducing inequality and promoting self-sufficiency than accumulating personal riches.
Burkina Faso declared that the war was part of an 'international plot' to bring down Sankara's government. It rejected speculation that it was fought over rumoured mineral wealth in the Agacher. The country's relatively poor performance in the conflict damaged the domestic credibility of the CNR. Some Burkinabé soldiers were angered by Sankara's failure to prosecute the war more aggressively and rally a counteroffensive against Mali.
* As President, he lowered his salary to $450 a month and limited his possessions to a car, four bikes, three guitars, a refrigerator, and a broken freezer.
Career, Business, and Investments
Thomas Sankara's career was marked by his time as a military officer and his presidency from 1983 to 1987. During his presidency, he initiated several key projects, including:
- Literacy Campaigns: Sankara increased the literacy rate from 13% to 73% through a nationwide campaign.
- Environmental Initiatives: He planted over 10 million trees to combat desertification.
- Infrastructure Development: Sankara built roads and a railway without foreign aid, promoting national self-sufficiency.
- Social Reforms: He appointed women to high positions, outlawed female genital mutilation, and supported women's rights.
At the age of 33, Sankara became the President of the Republic of Upper Volta and launched an unprecedented series of social, ecological, and economic reforms. In 1984, Sankara oversaw the renaming of the country as Burkina Faso ('land of the upright people'), and personally wrote its national anthem. His foreign policy was centered on anti-imperialism and he rejected loans and capital from organizations such as the International Monetary Fund. However, he welcomed some foreign aid in an effort to boost the domestic economy, diversify the sources of assistance, and make Burkina Faso self-sufficient.
After his basic military training in secondary school in 1966, Sankara began his military career at the age of 19. A year later he was sent to Madagascar for officer training at Antsirabe, where he witnessed popular uprisings in 1971 and 1972 against the government of Philibert Tsiranana. During this period he first read the works of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin, which profoundly influenced his political views for the rest of his life.
Returning to Upper Volta in 1972, he fought in a border war between Upper Volta and Mali by 1974. He earned fame for his performance in the conflict, but years later would renounce the fighting as 'useless and unjust', a reflection of his growing political consciousness. He also became a popular figure in the capital of Ouagadougou. Sankara was a decent guitarist. He played in a band named Tout-à-Coup Jazz and rode a bicycle.
Burkinabé forces regrouped in the Dionouga area to counter-attack. Captain Compaoré took command of this western front. Under his leadership soldiers split into small groups and employed guerrilla tactics against Malian tanks.
The conflict also demonstrated the country's weak international position and forced the CNR to craft a more moderate image of its policies and goals abroad. In the aftermath, the Burkinabé government made little reference to supporting revolution in other countries, and its relations with France modestly improved. At a rally held after the war, Sankara conceded that his country's military was not adequately armed and announced the commutation of sentences for numerous political prisoners.
Social Network
Although Thomas Sankara did not have the benefit of modern social media during his lifetime, his legacy continues to inspire and engage people worldwide. His philosophy and actions are often discussed and celebrated across various platforms.
He entered the military academy of Kadiogo in Ouagadougou with the academy's first intake of 1966 at the age of 17. While there he witnessed the first military coup d'état in Upper Volta led by Lieutenant-Colonel Sangoulé Lamizana (3 January 1966). The trainee officers were taught by civilian professors in the social sciences. Adama Touré, who taught history and geography, was the academic director at the time and known for having progressive ideas, although he did not publicly share them. He invited a few of his brightest and more political students, among them Sankara, to join informal discussions outside the classroom about imperialism, neocolonialism, socialism and communism, the Soviet and Chinese revolutions, the liberation movements in Africa, and similar topics. This was the first time Sankara was systematically exposed to a revolutionary perspective on Upper Volta and the world. Aside from his academic and extracurricular political activities, Sankara also pursued his passion for music and played the guitar.
* He spoke in forums like the Organisation of African Unity against what he described as neocolonialist penetration of Africa through Western trade and finance.
Education
Thomas Sankara received his education in military training and rose through the ranks of the Burkinabè military. His leadership and vision were shaped by his belief in Pan-Africanism and Marxist principles.
In summary, Thomas Sankara's net worth is not measured in financial terms but in the lasting impact of his leadership and policies on Burkina Faso and beyond. His commitment to simplicity, integrity, and social change remains a powerful influence in African politics and history.
Sankara's revolutionary programmes and reforms for African self-reliance made him an icon to many of Africa's poverty-stricken nations, and the president remained popular with a substantial majority of his country's citizens, as well as those outside Burkina Faso. Some of his policies alienated elements of the former ruling class, including tribal leaders — and the governments of France and its ally the Ivory Coast.
In 1970, 20-year-old Sankara went for further military studies at the military academy of Antsirabe in Madagascar, from which he graduated as a junior officer in 1973. At the Antsirabe academy, the range of instruction went beyond standard military subjects, which allowed Sankara to study agriculture, including how to raise crop yields and better the lives of farmers. He took up these issues in his own administration and country. During that period, he read profusely on history and military strategy, thus acquiring the concepts and analytical tools that he would later use in his reinterpretation of Burkinabe political history. He was also influenced by French leftist professors in Madagascar. Their intellectual influence on him was later superceded by that of Samir Amin, whose concepts of auto-centered development and delinking from the global capitalist economy influenced him deeply (they were personal friends as well). Thomas Sankara's own speeches and works show also that his analytical strengths went beyond merely applying Cuban solutions, or Amin's ideas. Beyond Marxism, he drew also from religious sources (both the Bible and the Quran were among his favourite readings). His focus on the peasantry, developed independently from both Amin and Mao Zedong, was especially important and influenced many in both Burkina Faso and later other African countries.
Sankara also prioritized education to combat the country's 90% illiteracy rate. His administration implemented successful education programs, resulting in significant improvements in literacy. After his assassination, teachers' strikes and the new regime's unwillingness to negotiate led to the creation of 'Revolutionary Teachers.' In 1996, nearly 2,500 teachers were fired due to a strike, prompting the government to invite anyone with a college degree to teach through the revolutionary teachers' program. Volunteers received a 10-day training course before starting to teach.
Improving women's status in Burkinabé society was one of Sankara's explicit goals, and his government included a large number of women, an unprecedented policy priority in West Africa. His government banned female genital mutilation, forced marriages and polygamy, while appointing women to high governmental positions and encouraging them to work outside the home and stay in school even if pregnant. Sankara promoted contraception and in 1986 all restrictions on contraception were removed. He also established a Ministry of Family Development and the Union of Burkina Women.
Three days after Sankara had assumed power in 1983 through the popular revolution, the National Union of African Teachers of Upper Volta (SNEAHV) called Sankara and his government fascist and called upon workers to be ready to fight for their freedom. As a result, the government ordered the arrest of 4 key figures of the SNEAHV, one was released shortly after. In response, the SNEAHV called upon a national teachers' strike to protest the arrests. The government saw this as something that endangered the politically weak Upper Volta which had already faced 5 coups since its independence. Therefore, the minister for National Education called upon directors of private schools "not to use the services of the strikers in their establishments". The call affected 1300-1500 teachers.
* He reduced the salaries of well-off public servants (including his own) and forbade the use of government chauffeurs and first class airline tickets.
