Reminiscences of Burkina Faso’s October revolution

What you need to know:

  • Exiled. After a restless night at State House, Compaore had no choice, but call it quits on October 31 and fled to Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where he sought refuge. I am told he is hiding somewhere in Ivory Coast.

On Wednesday, October 31, the gallant people of the West African country of Burkina Faso will celebrate the fourth anniversary of a classic peoples’ power revolution which brought to an abrupt end the rule of a brutal, callous and vicious dictator called Blaise Compaore.

Like many contemporary African leaders, Compaore is a man whose hands are badly stained and dripping with blood of his fellow citizens, including the charismatic, respected and much-loved president Thomas Sankara who was assassinated in 1987 by a man who pretended to be his comrade in the struggle to liberate their beloved country.

Compaore was removed from power by heroic young men and women of Burkina Faso who literally chased, in broad daylight, this quintessential tyrant and enemy of the African revolution.

In 2014, I predicted that events in Burkina Faso would have continental ramifications and impact positively on political developments in sub-Saharan Africa. Regrettably, Burkina Faso’s October revolution has not yet been replicated elsewhere in Africa, but what happened in Ouagadougou was significant and a wake-up call for all corrupt and greedy African dictators that their days are numbered. They have two choices, quit peacefully or peoples’ power will soon sweep them into the dustbin of history where they belong.

On October 28, 2014, Ouagadougou, the capital of the former Upper Volta, renamed Burkina Faso in 1984, erupted like a dormant volcano and witnessed the largest and most boisterous demonstration in the history of the country.

The immediate cause of the noisy demonstration was a shameless attempt by the long-serving and reactionary president Compaore to amend the constitution to remove term limits in order for him to rule forever, after 27 years in power!
The youth of Burkina Faso decided to take the bull by the horns and confront Compaore head on.

Thousands of young men and women took to the streets of Ouagadougou to protest and there were running battles between security forces and wananchi, with wananchi yelling obscenities against a very unpopular dictator.

Tens of thousands of angry people participated in a huge rally at Freedom Square in Ouagadougou at which Compaore was condemned and denounced. The demonstrators chanted, “We are fed up with Compaore, president Compaore must go and he will have to go!” In response, government security forces fired canisters of tear gas to disperse the marauding crowds, all in vain!

The police and soldiers soon took a patriotic decision and joined wananchi in a peoples’ struggle for freedom!
After a restless night at State House, Compaore had no choice, but call it quits on October 31 and fled to Abidjan, Ivory Coast, where he sought refuge. I am told he is hiding somewhere in Ivory Coast.

Some lessons learnt
Lesson one is that since power belongs to the people, those who have been elected or entrusted by the people to exercise power on their behalf must do so for benefit of the people and perform the greatest good for the greatest number.
In this respect, it is despicable, unbecoming and unacceptable for a leader elected by the people to serve them to turn around and boast that he is not anybody’s servant. On the contrary, that he is serving his personal and family interests.

Second, the young men and women of Africa must not take abuse of power, corruption, nepotism, tribalism and gross violations of human rights lying down. It is their future which is at stake. The youth of Burkina Faso decided in October 2014 that enough is enough and sent the dictator packing.

The same thing can happen elsewhere in Africa. Third, while I welcome, in principle, the proposal to hold a national dialogue in November, let nobody or political party think they are doing wananchi a big favour by accepting to participate in this long overdue dialogue to find peaceful and lasting solutions to many national problems.

The youth of Uganda, who comprise almost 80 per cent of the population of our country, must play a central and key role in the national dialogue. After all, it is the bazukulu, as one politician condescendingly calls them, who are the primary victims of misrule of our beloved country and all the evils which have bedevilled Uganda since 1971. Aluta continua!

Mr Acemah is a political scientist and retired career diplomat.
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