in all the administrative regions, and it will be done with the youth. You are going to build in order to prove that you’re capable of transforming your existence and transforming the concrete conditions in which you live. You don’t need us to go looking for foreign financial backers, you only need us to give the people their freedom and their rights. That will be done.
The CSP also intends to put a stop to certain practices. When you go to a hospital with a haemorrhage or a fracture, even if you’re about to pass out, they’d rather ignore you and take care of the cold of some president, prime minister, or minister, simply because you’re a common man, a worker. We should denounce that every day. We will put a stop to it. Have confidence. We are going to put a stop to speculation, to the misappropriation of funds, and to illicit enrichment. That is why we are locking up – and we will continue to lock up – all those who steal the people’s money.
We tell the people to be ready to fight, to be ready to take up arms, to resist whenever it’s necessary. Have no fear, nothing will happen. The enemy knows that the Voltaic people are now mature.
That’s why, when we’re told that two years is too short a time for returning to normal constitutional life, we say it’s quite sufficient. Because when you let the people speak in complete freedom and complete democracy, the people will tell you in thirty minutes what they want. We don’t need two years.
The CSP thanks you because you are mobilised. We were right to have confidence in you, and we were right to side with you in the fight against the enemies of the people – imperialism. That’s why we should shout together:
Down with imperialism, down with imperialism, down with imperialism!
Down with the enemies of the people!
Down with the embezzlers of public funds!
Down with the fakers in Upper Volta!
Fakery is over!
Down with those who hide behind the diplomas paid for by the people’s sweat, and who, because of their diplomas, think they have the right to speak in the name of the people, but are incapable of serving in the name of the people!
Down with those who are against the bonds between the army and the people!
Down with those who hide in various clothes – white or black – against the people!
Imperialism will be buried in Upper Volta! Its lackeys will be buried in Upper Volta!
Long live Upper Volta!
Long live democracy!
Long live liberty!
Thank you, and see you very soon!
A radiant future for our country
(Proclamation of 4 August 1983)
On 17 May 1983, Thomas Sankara, Jean-Baptiste Lingani, and other supporters of the political course defended by Sankara within the Council of Popular Salvation (CSP) were arrested in a coup organised by President Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo and senior officers belonging to the CSP. The coup took place the day after the arrival in Ouagadougou of Guy Penne, special adviser on Africa to French president François Mitterrand.
Thousands took to the streets of Ouagadougou to demand Sankara be freed. On 30 May Sankara and Lingani were placed under house arrest. The officers and personnel of the armed forces and the political parties supporting Sankara’s political course launched a sustained effort to prepare for an inevitable confrontation with the pro-imperialist forces who had carried out the 17 May coup.
On 4 August 1983, Captain Blaise Compaoré and 250 men marched on Ouagadougou and overthrew the Ouédraogo regime. At 10:00 p.m. that evening, Sankara, now president of the National Council of the Revolution (CNR) and head of state, addressed the country in this radio broadcast.
People of Upper Volta:
Today, once again, soldiers, non-commissioned officers, and officers of the national army and the paramilitary forces found themselves compelled to intervene in the running of state affairs in order to restore independence and liberty to our country and dignity to our people.
The patriotic and progressive objectives that justified the formation of the Council of Popular Salvation on 7 November 1982, were betrayed on 17 May 1983 – that is, only six months later – by individuals vehemently opposed to the Voltaic people’s interests and their aspirations for democracy and liberty.
You know these individuals, because they fraudulently wormed their way into the history of our people. They became notorious, first through their two-faced policies, and later through their open alliance with all the conservative and reactionary forces who are capable only of serving the interests of the enemies of the people, the interests of foreign domination and neo-colonialism.
Today, 4 August 1983, soldiers, non-commissioned officers, and officers from all military services and all units, in a surge of patriotism, have decided to sweep away this unpopular regime – the submissive and grovelling regime established on 17 May 1983, by doctor and Commander Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo, under the tutelage of Colonel Gabriel Somé Yoryan and his henchmen.
Today, 4 August 1983, the patriotic and progressive soldiers, non-commissioned officers, and officers have thus restored the honour of our people and their army and have given them back their dignity, enabling them to enjoy once again the esteem and respect that everyone, both in Upper Volta and abroad, accorded them from 7 November 1982 to 17 May 1983.
In order to achieve these goals of honour, dignity, genuine independence, and progress for Upper Volta and its people, the current movement of the Voltaic armed forces, having drawn the lessons of the bitter experiences of the CSP, has on this day, 4 August 1983, formed the National Council of the Revolution. This body now assumes state power, putting an end to the bogus regime of the CSP of Commander Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo, who moreover had arbitrarily dissolved it.
People of Upper Volta, the National Council of the Revolution calls on all Voltaics – men and women, young and old – to mobilise and remain vigilant, in order to give the CNR their active support. The National Council of the Revolution invites the Voltaic people to form Committees for the Defence of the Revolution everywhere, in order to participate in the CNR’s great patriotic struggle and to prevent our enemies here and abroad from doing our people harm. It goes without saying that the political parties are dissolved.10
On the international level, the National Council of the Revolution pledges to respect the agreements between our country and other states. Likewise, it maintains our country’s membership in regional, continental, and international organisations.
The National Council of the Revolution is not directed against any country, state, or people. It proclaims its solidarity with all peoples and its intention to live in peace and friendship with all countries, in particular with all of Upper Volta’s neighbouring countries.
The basic purpose and objective of the National Council of the Revolution is to defend the interests of the Voltaic people and to achieve their deep aspirations for liberty, for genuine independence, and for economic and social progress.
People of Upper Volta:
Let us all move forward with the National Council of the Revolution in this great patriotic battle for the radiant future of our country!
Homeland or death, we will win!
Long live the Voltaic people!
Long live the National Council of the Revolution!
Power must be the business of a conscious people
(Press conference, 21 August 1983)
On 21 August 1983, Sankara gave his first news conference as president of Upper Volta to the international press. It was broadcast live over national radio. Below are major excerpts.
Question: Mr. President, 4 August is seen by some as an act of revenge against those who held power after 17 May. How would you portray this action?
Thomas