Who are the enemies of the people?

The enemies of the people

26 March 1983 one of Africa’s illustrious and gallant sons Thomas Sankara spoke to thousands of people at a rally in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso and asked: “Who are the enemies of the people?”

He declared: “The enemies of the people here inside the country are all those who have illicitly taken advantage of their social position and their place in the bureaucracy to enrich themselves. By means of bribery, manoeuvres, and forged documents, they have become shareholders in different companies.”

Furthermore, “they are that group of bourgeois who enrich themselves dishonestly through fraud and bribery ,through the corruption of state officials, so that they can bring all kinds of products into Upper Volta (Burkina Faso’s colonial name),increasing the price tenfold .They are the enemies of the people.”

Thomas Sankara addressing a crowd in Burkina Faso

When history repeats itself

It’s been twenty seven years since the tragic assassination of the charismatic revolutionary leader of Burkina Faso, may his soul rest in peace. Without a doubt Sankara remains one of the least remembered, but most creative and principled, of post independent African leaders.

We continue to see blatant disregard of morality and the rule of law in as far as corruption, nepotism etc are concerned. It has absolutely become normal to be corrupt in independent Africa, in fact what binds different ruling parties across Africa together is corruption and rampant looting of state resources and coffers with no impunity or shame at all. These are the enemies of the people.

The struggle has been personalised

Corruption has become the fibre and glue that binds the comrades together. 1988 in Zimbabwe there was the Willowgate scandal where top level government officials used their positions to illegally purchase and resale trucks and motor vehicles from the Willowvale Motor Industries.

What followed was the Justice Sandura commission rocked the government at the time with Maurice Nyagumbo, then senior minister of political affairs and Zanu-PF administration secretary “committing suicide” after being named for corruption and charged for perjury. Many individuals that where involved in the scandal are still serving in the current administration. These are the enemies of the people.

In 1987 there was the ZISCO Steel blast furnace scandal, Air Zimbabwe Fokker scandal (1987),NRZ Housing scandal(1986),ZRP Santana scandal(1989),War Victims Compensation scandal (1994),GMB Grain scandal(1995),VIP Housing Scheme(1996),Boka Banking scandal(1998),NOCZIM scandal(1999),GMB scandal(1999),Harare Airport scandal(2001),we have the Marange diamonds revenue scandal currently affecting the national fiscus and the list is endless . These are the enemies of the people.

Do I hear about the Obiangs running Equatorial Guinea like their personal fiefdom? Yes, I also hear that the younger playboy Obiang got his $35 million worth of assets seized by the US authorities because they were acquired with stolen money. Despite huge profits from oil and gas, more than three quarters of the population in Equatorial Guinea are impoverished, it’s a scandal.

And oh dear did the Department of Public Works in South Africa confirmed the extensive misuse of public funds within its ranks – a shocking R35 billion in wasteful expenditure with some of it going back 13 years. This is all happening in the midst of poor service delivery, low quality of education, poor and inadequate infrastructure in townships.

Embezzlement, extortion and looting have become the order of the day by the African ruling elites and their surrogates whilst the wanjiku lives in extreme poverty. These are the enemies of the people.

The Africa we want

When Sankara became president, he brought in a lot of reform in a short period. He immediately launched one of the most ambitious and radical programmes for social and economic change ever attempted on the African continent, and Burkina Faso was nearly completely self-sustaining.

He sold off the government fleet of Mercedes cars and made the Renault 5, the official service car of the ministers. He also reduced salaries of well-off public servants, including his own, and forbade the use of government chauffeurs and 1^st class airline tickets. Such was the selfless leadership of this great African lion.

An imaginative political leadership that has the interests of the people at heart is in dire need across Africa.

15 October, 1987 Africa shall always remember.