Military Coup in Burkina Faso 1987

Captain Thomas Sankara, the military dictator of Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta), initiated many radical reforms during his tenure. He had a charismatic knack for diffusing enmity from his opponents. In the absence of serious opposition from traditional political forces, it was a growing lack of consensus within the governing Conseil National de la Révolution (CNR) and resulting rifts that ultimately led to Sankara's downfall. He also alarmed elements in the army by planning to create a paramilitary force under his direct command. The Sankara faction became increasingly marginalized within both the CNR and the army.

Growing factional disagreement within the CNR on ideology, strategy and security issues culminated in a bloody coup on October 15, 1987. Captain Baise Compaoré, a longtime friend of Sankara and minister of state and justice, masterminded the overthrow of Sankara. Throughout Ouagadougou (Wagaduga), the capital of Burkina Faso, soldiers of the rival factions exchanged heavy gunfire, killing about 100 people. As well, Sankara was killed with thirteen of his associates while in the custody of a group of soldiers loyal to Compaoré. While the particular objectives of the plot remain unknown, events do not appear to have taken their intended course. Compaoré ended up looking like a murderer.

Soon after assuming power, the Compaoré regime initiated a national rectification process designed to redress the perceived excesses of the previous government. The Front Populaire (FP), the organ that now replaced the CNR as the main ruling body of the regime, embarked on a witch hunt designed to neutralize the extreme-leftist factions identified with Sankara. Students boycotted classes to protest the military coup that had led to the death of the populist leader Thomas Sankara.

References

Oxford Companion to Politics of the World, 96-7; Rough Guide to West Africa, 625; A History of Africa, 517; Africa Since 1800, 291; Democratic Experiments in Africa: Regime Transitions in Comparative Perspective, 102; Military History, 1541; Dictionary of Wars, 75.

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