THE SEPTEMBER NATIONAL IMBIZO CALLS FOR A SANKARIST RESOLUTION OF PRESIDENT BLAISE CAMPAORES HOLD ON POWER Background The experience of the Burkinabe Revolution carries important lessons for revolution throughout the African continent. Burkina Faso, previously known at Upper Volta, was under the dominion of and a colony of France. It is a country rich in Gold, Manganese, Marble, Phosphate and Zinc and was colonized after a long and brutal struggle by the impoverished people of that land. When formal independence was obtained in 1960 the country was in a devastating state. Illiteracy was at 98%, healthcare was non existent, sound infrastructure was lacking and the countrys political, social and economic system was based on a tribalistic feudal land ownership mode of production. There was very little industry which in turn was located around the foreign-owned mines. Also a significant proportion of the population were involved with subsistence farming while thousands of others sought employment in bordering countries of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. On 5 August 1960, Maurice Yamogo became the first president. Soon after independence he banned all other political parties and in 1966 was toppled via a coup that inaugurated a military dictatorship led by Lieutenant-Colonel Aboukar Sangoulé Lamizana. Lamizana declared that he was transiting the system towards complete civilian democracy and in fact established a mixed civilian-military government. However on 25 November 1980 due to the pressure of labour unions Lamizana’s government was replaced by the military government of Saye Zerbo, through a bloodless coup. Not long thereafter the Labor Unions brought Zerbo’s government to the point of total breakdown and consequently yet another military coup took place on 7 November 1982 led by Major Dr. Jean-Baptiste Oudraogo. Disappointment with the Ougraogos rule ran deep in the Upper Volta and consequently within the military, a group of Leftist officers formed the Communist Officers Group (ROC) led by the Marxist-Leninist Thomas Sankara who in turn formulated a policy of National and Popular Revolution Blaise Compaore was one of the first adherents of this group. Sankara took government posts under Zerbo’s rule, but resigned soon thereafter due to the anti-people character of the government. In 1983 Oudraogos Council of Popular Salvation selected Thomas Sankara to be Prime Minister. However Sankara resigned due to rising opposition from reactionary military commanders. He was subsequently arrested. In the interim resistance against the Oudraogo government began to intensify as the people took to the streets and on 4 August 1983, 200 troops led by ROC member Blaise Campaore marched on the capital Ouagadougou. This marked the beginning of the Burkinabe Revolution that put Captain Thomas Sankara in power via a mass backed coup d’état. A number of basic revolutionary projects not limited to changing the countrys name to Burkina Faso (land of incorruptible people) were initiated by Sankara with the objective of transforming the country into a corrupt free and self reliant one. A National Council of the Revolution was established and the Democratic and Popular Rally, as a means to facilitate the revolution, was launched. The core leadership of the Democratic and Popular Rally were Marxist-Leninists and Sankaras vision was to develop it into an authentic Marxist-Leninist party. The tasks that confronted the Revolutionary Sankarist Government were huge! Sankaras aim, in developing and implementing the policies he did over the period 1983 to 1987, was the construction of a socialist state and society. The type of state form and society inspired and established by the Burkinabe Revolution indicates the unlimited revolutionary potential of socialism to end slavery and produce total freedom for blacks. The implementation of the various projects produced numerous encouraging successes. However, on 15 October 1987, Sankaras overall revolutionary project and life were terminated when counter revolutionary forces (backed by imperialist interests) which was led by his then best friend Blaise Compaoré brutally murdered him. Blaise Compaoré consequently rose power, and within a relatively short period of time, reversed all the gains of the Burkinabe revolution. In the process of reversing the said revolutionary gains Compaoré embarked on a smear campaign to taint the revolutionary image of Sankara. He located the cause of the countrys problems in all Sankara’s policies. In the interim resistance to Campaores stay in power over the past 27 years has been growing. The dispute which has been brewing turns on the issue of term limits regarding presidential office. In 2000, Article 37 of the constitution reduced the terms of presidency from seven to five years and restricted the term limit to two. Compaoré has since already been re-elected twice to office which effectively means that in 2015 he would not be eligible to stand again. Current situation It is against the above backdrop that the Burkinabe youth have now taken to the streets of the capital city, Ouagadougou. The Campaore led Burkina Faso government tabled a bill to be voted on by cabinet on 30 October 2014 that will allow parliament to call a referendum on the issue of removing a two-term restriction for the presidency. On 30 October 2014 thousands of protesters led by those inspired by the revolutionary ideas of Thomas Sankara stormed the parliament and set it on fire! This brought a halt to the scheduled passing of the bill allowing constitutional amendments that would allow President Compaore to extend indefinitely his 27-year rule. A call to the Burkinabe People The situation in Burkina Faso is absolutely critical. We call on the Burkinabe revolutionaries to give decisive leadership and go beyond narrow demands of constitutionally limiting the presidential terms. In line with your rallying cry we are fed up it is time to transcend into a higher revolutionary plane! It is crystal clear that to now delay an insurrection in Burkina Faso will be inevitably fatal. We exhort the revolutionary Burkinabe people to see that everything now hangs on a thread. Burkina Faso is being confronted by problems that cannot be solved by effecting constitutionally limiting presidential terms but exclusively by the people, the struggling masses. The Burkinabe people must at all costs arrest Blaize Campaore and the rest of his Government and declare a new Sankarist Republic without any delay. Africa needs a Sankarist hub from which the revolutionary spokes can radiate and inspire the rest of the continent! History will smile on you for seizing the time and not making the same mistake as Egypt! We see the invigorating ideas of Thomas Sankara being set in motion and we are assured, the Burkinabe revolution was not in vain! Sankaras ideas lives in the hopes of the hopeless! We Are The Ones We Have Been Waiting For! ISSUED BY THE SEPTEMBER NATIONAL IMBIZO 31 Octobet 2014 Contact Persons: Rirhandzu Baloyi (Leader) Cell: +27 71 444 7473 Mail: rlbaloyi@gmail Ayanda Gladile (National Spokesperson) Cell; +27 73 986 1718 Mail; ayanda.gladile@gmail Zanele Lwana (International Relations and Solidarity) Cell: +27 79486 9087 Mail: zanelelwana@gmail
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 10:51:57 +0000
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