According to Fatboy, if it wasn’t for the assassination, Bukinafaso’s Thomas Sankara would also be one of Africa’s longest serving presidents.
Considered to be a populist maxist, Sankara came to power in 1983 through a revolution promising fairness and equality for all. Sadly three years into power he was assassinated. There were speculations that his close friend Blaize Compaoré, former Burkina Faso President with whom they jointly seized power had masterminded Sankara’s assassination.
On Wednesday, the Military court eventually found Kompore and 13 others guilty of the murder of Sankara and sentenced to life imprisonment despite his absentia. Sankara and a group of 12 people were killed in the twist and this led to the 1987 Coup d'etat that led Compaoré to power.
During the Fatboy Show today morning, James Onen, commonly known as Fatboy, discussed that most revolutionaries play a similar song in terms of promising equal and fair treatment of their nationals, only for them to do the opposite or even worse than they promised. He said that if only Sankara had lived long enough in power, the cliche of his leadership would have been evident naming former presidents as Col Muammar Gaddaffi of Libya
“If he were still alive today, he would probably be counted one of the longest serving African Presidents because being a revolutionary makes you believe in the premise that you know what's best for the country more than anyone else. This is why the revolutionary feels justified in taking arms violently, bringing himself to power with the belief that without doing so, the country is doomed,” he said.
He further explained that the revolutionaries become the visionary narcissists who may start referring to national resources as their own and will do all it takes to stay in power believing that they know what's good for the people .
“So you might be in power for four years and realize you haven’t achieved your goals yet and stay around for another ten years. If you realize that you’re not there yet,you change your constitution. Before you know it you’re in power for 50 years and you’d still believe that you still have a vision for the country and no one can do it except you,” Fatboy added.
However, Olive Najjuma, The Fatboy Show co-host, presumed that Sankara may have stuck to his word and perhaps would have stepped down after his term. His character and actions she said reminded him of the Late Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli.
Sankara is considered a Burkina Faso hero and “African Che Guevara” who led a revolution to “decolonise the African minds,” a movement that continues to be cherished by Africans to date. He also lived his life at the bare minimum as a President, refusing to live luxuriously at the expense of his nationals. During his time, he sold the entire fleet of government Mercedes Benzes believing that civil servants were not worthy iving in glamor while the people were suffering in poverty.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive and Sarah every weekday from 6am to 10am on RX Radio.