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 |
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 1st 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.