Thomas Sankara’s widow ‘relieved’ after ex-president’s sentencing for murder

Wife of former Burkinabe leader and African revolutionary icon, Thomas Sankara, has reacted to the legal determination reached in the murder of her husband decades ago.

Mariam Sankara said she was relieved because the April 6 sentencing of her husband’s former ally and exiled former President Blaise Compaore, to life in prison, gives her closure over the murder.

She stressed in an interview with local media outlets that the judgement also highlights the ideals Sankara stood for and what his assailants also wanted by going after him.

“I think that the people of Burkina Faso and the public opinion now know who is Thomas Sankara, who is the man, who is the politician, what he wanted, and also what the people who assassinated him wanted.

“From that point of view I am relieved because we know who he is,” Miriam Sankara added.

A family member Mousbila Sankara said he hoped the verdict would bring closure.

“We hope that this will serve as a lesson, in an educational sense, to everyone, to the victim’s families, to the public, and others.

“Because this is something that has affected not only local people, but supporters outside the country. So we are hoping that this verdict will diffuse the resentment we had,” he said.

A Ouagadougou court the country’s former president, Blaise Compaoré, to life in prison for the murder of Thomas Sankara.

Sankara, who was not one of those African leaders to be told what to do by western nations, was murdered after four years in power in a coup led by his former friend Compaoré.

The court, after a six-month trial, handed down the sentence to the former president in absentia. Hyacinthe Kafando, Compaoré’s former security chief who is accused of leading the hit squad, was also found guilty.

Compaoré succeeded Thomas Sankara and ruled Burkina Faso for 27 years before being removed from power in a 2014 uprising following his decision to extend his tenure.

He fled to Ivory Coast, where he has since been in exile.

The ex-leader has denied involvement in Sankara’s murder.

Background:

Nearly three-and-half decades since his assassination, the trial of Burkina Faso’s former President Thomas Sankara ended on April 6.

Fourteen men including his close friend and exiled former President Blaise Compaore have were found guilty of complicity in the murder of Sankara.

Compaore who remains exiled in Ivory Coast boycotted the trial.

Sankara, widely known as “Africa’s Che Guevara” was killed at the age of 37 by soldiers during the coup of 15 October 1987.

Blaise Compaoré come to power on the back of that coup and remained in office till a popular mass protest forced him out in 2014. The duo had staged a takeover in 1983 which saw Sankara become president.

Sankara remains a revered icon across much of sub-Saharan Africa along with the DR Congo’s Patrice Lumumba. They are seen as promising young leaders who stood up to the West and colonial powers and were killed as a result of their aspirations.