what happened to thomas sankara

Thomas Sankara was a military officer and proponent of Pan-Africanism who was installed as president of Upper Volta (later Burkina Faso) in 1983 after a military coup. He held that position until 1987, when he was killed during another coup. On October 15, 1987, Sankara was assassinated in a coup led by his former colleague Blaise Compaoré, who went on to rule Burkina Faso until popular protests forced him to flee the country in 2014. Sankara was attending a meeting with the Conseil de lEntente when his assassins singled him out and executed him. The assassins then shot at those attending the meeting, killing 12 other people. Sankaras body was riddled with bullets to the back and he was quickly buried in an unmarked grave while his widow Mariam and two children fled the nation. For more than three decades, Sankara’s death has remained an open wound in the former French colony. The story of his assassination has all the elements of a modern tragedy. In 2022, Blaise Compaoré, who lives in exile, was found guilty for his role in the assassination of Thomas Sankara. He apologized to the ex-leaders family on July 26, 2022.