Flight Lieutenant Rawlings closed his borders, there were protests.9 You don’t like Rawlings. Yet when he closes his borders in order to stay at home, you protest!
Ghana cannot impose anything on us. Nor can we impose anything on Ghana. Rawlings can’t give us lessons. But neither can we give lessons to Rawlings. However, when Rawlings says, “No way for kalabule!” – that is, stop the corruption – he says this in the interests of the Ghanaian people. But in fact it is in the interest of all peoples, because the Voltaic people too are against corruption.
The enemies of the CSP also say that we are “reds”, communists. That pleases us! Because it proves that our enemies are in disarray. They are lost. They no longer know what has to be done, what has to be said. We have done nothing communist here, we have simply talked about improving living conditions, about social justice, liberty, and democracy.
When we took the decision to revoke the decree issued by the Military Committee for Redressment and National Progress prohibiting the opening of bars at certain hours, we heard people say: These folks in the CSP, whether they’re red or green, communists or not – we have our interests and we prefer them. That’s what’s called being close to the popular masses. It’s not the labels that count.
They call us communists in order to frighten the people. They accuse us of being communists, and they tell the people that communism is bad. We have no intention of telling you that communism is good, nor of telling you the opposite. We intend only to tell you that we will take actions with you and for you. The label that will be pinned on these actions matters little.
The enemies of the people also say that we are going after foreigners. No. We love all foreigners – those who are here today and those who will come. We love them because we assume they love the Voltaic people. We don’t believe they are foreigners who want to exploit us.
The CSP intends to create, together with you, the conditions for mobilisation and work. We want the people to get organised for work, for the battle we are going to wage. For example, we know that certain regions of Upper Volta, such as Orodara, have been very successful in growing fruits and vegetables. But we know too that in these regions the fruits and vegetables rot for lack of means to get them out of the area. We say that the people should be mobilised in Orodara to build landing strips so planes will land there. The mangoes will come to Ouagadougou, will go to Dori, and that will be good for the people of Upper Volta.
This is the kind of work we’re talking about. Every day now – because we are going to begin big construction projects – we want you to come out in massive numbers to build. We are going to build a monument and a people’s theatre in Ouagadougou. We’ll build the same things in all the administrative regions, and it will be done with the youth. You are going to build in order to prove that you’re capable of transforming your existence and transforming the concrete conditions in which you live. You don’t need us to go looking for foreign financial backers, you only need us to give the people their freedom and their rights. That will be done.
The CSP also intends to put a stop to certain practices. When you go to a hospital with a haemorrhage or a fracture, even if you’re about to pass out, they’d rather ignore you and take care of the cold of some president, prime minister, or minister, simply because you’re a common man, a worker. We should denounce that every day. We will put a stop to it. Have confidence. We are going to put a stop to speculation, to the misappropriation of funds, and to illicit enrichment. That is why we are locking up – and we will continue to lock up – all those who steal the people’s money.
We tell the people to be ready to fight, to be ready to take up arms, to resist whenever it’s necessary. Have no fear, nothing will happen. The enemy knows that the Voltaic people are now mature.
That’s why, when we’re told that two years is too short a time for returning to normal constitutional life, we say it’s quite sufficient. Because when you let the people speak in complete freedom and complete democracy, the people will tell you in thirty minutes what they want. We don’t need two years.
The CSP thanks you because you are mobilised. We were right to have confidence in you, and we were right to side with you in the fight against the enemies of the people – imperialism. That’s why we should shout together:
Down with imperialism, down with imperialism, down with imperialism!
Down with the enemies of the people!
Down with the embezzlers of public funds!
Down with the fakers in Upper Volta!
Fakery is over!
Down with those who hide behind the diplomas paid for by the people’s sweat, and who, because of their diplomas, think they have the right to speak in the name of the people, but are incapable of serving in the name of the people!
Down with those who are against the bonds between the army and the people!
Down with those who hide in various clothes – white or black – against the people!
Imperialism will be buried in Upper Volta! Its lackeys will be buried in Upper Volta!
Long live Upper Volta!
Long live democracy!
Long live liberty!
Thank you, and see you very soon!
A radiant future for our country
(Proclamation of 4 August 1983)
On 17 May 1983, Thomas Sankara, Jean-Baptiste Lingani, and other supporters of the political course defended by Sankara within the Council of Popular Salvation (CSP) were arrested in a coup organised by President Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo and senior officers belonging to the CSP. The coup took place the day after the arrival in Ouagadougou of Guy Penne, special adviser on Africa to French president François Mitterrand.
Thousands took to the streets of Ouagadougou to demand Sankara be freed. On 30 May Sankara and Lingani were placed under house arrest. The officers and personnel of the armed forces and the political parties supporting Sankara’s political course launched a sustained effort to prepare for an inevitable confrontation with the pro-imperialist forces who had carried out the 17 May coup.
On 4 August 1983, Captain Blaise Compaoré and 250 men marched on Ouagadougou and overthrew the Ouédraogo regime. At 10:00 p.m. that evening, Sankara, now president of the National Council of the Revolution (CNR) and head of state, addressed the country in this radio broadcast.
People of Upper Volta:
Today, once again, soldiers, non-commissioned officers, and officers of the national army and the paramilitary forces found themselves compelled to intervene in the running of state affairs in order to restore independence and liberty to our country and dignity to our people.
The patriotic and progressive objectives that justified the formation of the Council of Popular Salvation on 7 November 1982, were betrayed on 17 May 1983 – that is, only six months later – by individuals vehemently opposed to the Voltaic people’s interests and their aspirations for democracy and liberty.
You know these individuals, because they fraudulently wormed their way into the history of our people. They became notorious, first through their two-faced policies, and later through their open alliance with all the conservative and reactionary forces who are capable only of serving the interests of the enemies of the people, the interests of foreign domination
