The President Thomas Sankara Memorial in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou, will host the reburial later this month of President Thomas Sankara’s remains and those of his 12 assassinated companions, according to the country’s transitional government.
During the 1987 coup d’état that installed former Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaoré, 37-year-old Sankara was shot dead along with 12 others.
According to a statement issued on Friday February 3, this decision was made after discussions with the Armed Forces, the victims’ families, traditional and religious leaders, and the International Committee of the Thomas Sankara Memorial.
On May 25, 2015, the bodies of Sankara and his companions of the People’s Democratic Revolution (RDP) were exhumed as part of a legal procedure to confirm the identity of the remains.
The anti-imperialist revolutionary, known as “Africa’s Che Guevara,” was assassinated in a coup in 1987 and was swiftly buried alongside 12 others.
During the tenure of his successor, Blaise Compaoré, who left government in 2014 amid street protests, permission for an exhumation was denied.
Mr Compaoré received a life sentence in absentia for his role in the assassination of Sankara.
Sankara will be reburied in accordance with conventional funeral customs, which will be followed by religious and military ceremonies.
Author-Roberta Appiah
