In only 4 yrs in power (1983-87), Thomas Sankara built 350 schools, roads, railways without foreign aid Increased literacy rate by 60%. He also banned forced marriages and gave poor people land, Vaccinated 2.5 million kids, Planted 10 million trees, Appointed females to high governmental positions, encouraged them to work, recruited them into the military, and granted pregnancy leave.
He also sold off the government fleet of Mercedes cars and made the Renault 5 (the cheapest car sold in Burkina Faso at that time) the official service car of the ministers. He reduced the salaries of all public servants, including his own, and forbade the use of government chauffeurs and 1st class airline tickets.
As President, he lowered his salary to $450 a month and limited his possessions to a car, four bikes, three guitars, a fridge, and a broken freezer. He opposed foreign aid, saying that “he who feeds you, controls you.”
He also drove out French imperialism & withdrew Burkina Faso from IMF
A very productive life that was brutally cut short.
