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ROAPE Publications Ltd. The 'Political Orientation' of Burkina Faso Author(s): Thomas Sankara Reviewed work(s): Source: Review of African Political Economy, No. 32 (Apr., 1985), pp. 48-55 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4005706 . Accessed: 05/09/2012 14:04 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. . Taylor & Francis, Ltd. and ROAPE Publications Ltd. are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Review of African Political Economy. http://www.jstor.org 48 The 'Political Orientation'of Burkina Faso Thomas Sankara Extracts from President Thomas Sankara's address to the nation in Ouagadougou on 2 October 1983 - 'the 'Political OrientationSpeech'. People of Upper Volta, male and female comradesof the revolution,this year, 1983, our country has lived through intense events which have left an indelible impressionin the minds of many of our citizens. Duringthis period our people's struggle has had its ups and downs. Ourpeoplewaged a heroic struggle and finallytriumphedon the historicnight of 4 August 1983. For almost two months now, the revolutionhas been irreversibly under way. For two months, the fighting people of Upper Volta have come together as one person behindthe NationalRevolutionaryCouncil(CNR)to build a new, free, independent,and prosperousUpper Voltan society - a society free of social injustice, free from domination and exploitation from international imperialism. I ask you now to lookbackwith me to learn the necessarylessons and to workout correctly the revolutionarytasks facing us now and in the immediatefuture. In giving ourselves a clear understandingof past developments,we will strengthen ourselves in our struggle against imperialism and against reactionary social forces. Where have we come from? Where are we heading?These questions demand clear and firm answers if we want to move forward confidentlytowards even more resoundingvictories. The August revolutionwas not just a revolutionarycoup against the reactionary alliance of 17 May 1983. It was the outcome of the Upper Volta people's long struggle against their eternal enemies. It was a victory over international imperialismand its nationalallies. It was a victory over shadowyand retrograde forces of darkness. The August revolutionwas the culminationof the popular uprising against the imperialistconspiracyof 17 May 1983 which had tried to hold back the rising tide of the democratic and revolutionary forces in the country. This uprising was symbolisedin part by the brave and heroic attitude of the Po commandos.Correctlythey totally opposed the pro-imperialistand anti-people power structureof MajorJean-BaptisteOuedraogoand ColonelSome Yorian.At the same time the uprisingbrought together a block of populardemocraticand revolutionary forces who with soldiers and patriotic officers organised an THE POLITICALORIENTATIONOF BURKINAFASO 49 exemplaryresistance. A real movementof popularresistance sprang up after the reactionary and pro-imperialist provocation of 17 May 1983. This popular movement created the conditionsfor 4 August 1983. In fact the 17 May imperialist plot launched a regrouping of democratic and revolutionary forces and organisations. During this period they mobilised themselves and took a numberof initiatives which would have been unheardof before. The populardemonstrationsof 20, 21 and 22 Maywere echoednationally. They were concrete proof of the people's, and above all of our youth's, commitmentto the revolutionaryideas defended by the men who reaction had treacherouslybrought down. May was the real prelude to the upheavalswhich opened up the class contradictionsin our society. The August revolutionwas the outcome of all these social contradictionswhich couldno longer be snuffed out by compromise.The overwhelmingmajorityof our people back the August Revolution. In it they see their great hope of finally satisfying their hopes of democracy,freedom, independence,real progress. Our people count on the CNR to restore the dignity and greatness of our country which have been mockedby 23 years of neo-colonialism. Those 23 years of exploitationand imperialistdominationhave left a grim legacy. We face a hard task in buildinga new society strippedof the malpracticeswhich kept us poor - both economicallyand culturally. During the 1960s France was under pressure on all sides: embarrassedat Dien Bien Phu, in enormousdifficultyin Algeria. National sovereignty and territorial integrity was granted to our country. This token retreat of French colonial imperialismwas the beginningof victory for the people over foreign exploitative forces. But to imperialismit was just an alterationin the form of dominationand exploitationof our people. The change did however bring about a shift in classes and social formationand the establishmentof new classes. The intellectualpetit bourgeoisieof that period chose to ally with the most reactionaryforces of traditionalsociety. They scorned the masses who had been their springboardinto power and undertookto organise the politicaland economicfoundationsof the new forms of imperialistdomination and exploitation. Imperialismfeared the increasing radicalismof the people which threatened to turn into real revolution.They thought they couldhead this off and keep control through our own nationals. Ourown nationalstook over the foreign domination and exploitation.The entire operationof the neo-colonialsociety rested on this ind of substitution. In essence neo-colonialand colonial societies are not the slightest bit different. The colonial administration was replaced by a neo-colonial administration identical to its predecessor. The colonial army was replaced by a neo-colonial army with the same characteristics,functions, and the same role of guardianof the interests of imperialism and its national allies. The colonial school was replacedby a neo-colonialschool which set about the same objects of alienating our childrenfrom our country and reproducinga society devoted to imperialist interests and to serving the footmen and local allies of imperialism. Our own nationals undertook the systematic looting of our country with the supportand blessing of imperialism.They used the crumbsof the loot which fell 50 REVIEW OF AFRICANPOLITICALECONOMY to them to transformthemselves graduallyinto a parasiticbourgeoisieunableto control their appetites. These people were guided only by their personal interests. They did not hesitate to use the most dishonestmethods,corruptionon a grand scale, theft of goods and public funds. Influence-peddling,property speculation,favouritismand nepotism were the order of the day. That is the explanationof how they amassed such riches - cash and goods - on the backsof the people. Not content to live off the fantasticprofits whichthey got from the shamefulexploitationof their dishonestlyacquiredpropertythey moved heaven and earth to get their hands on state power. Then they used the power of the state for more theft. A full year never went by without them going for luxuriousholidaysabroad.Their childrenleft the countryfor prestigious schools abroad. At the slightest sign of sickness all state resources were mobilisedto organise expensive care in luxury hospitals abroad. All this went on before the very eyes of our brave, honest people suffering in miserable conditions. The riches of our country provided paradise for this minority,but the majority,our people, lived in hell. Within this majoritythe salaried workers, in spite of their regular income, fell into all the traps of capitalist consumer society. Their salaries were eaten up before they even drew them. They were caught in a viciouscircle. In their unions, struggles were waged to improvetheir working conditions.Sometimesthe neocolonialpowers were obliged to cede under the pressure of these struggles. But they only gave with one hand in order to take away with the other. So for instance a 10 per cent wage increase wouldbe announcedwith great fanfare and at the same time tax changes would be made which simply took away all the benefits. After five, six or seven monthsthe workers wouldrealise they had been trickedand organise new struggles. Seven months was always enoughbreathing space for the reactionariesin power to work out new strategies. In this endless struggle the worker was always the one to come out at a loss. Among our vast majority are the peasants - 'the wretched of the earth'. Peasants are expropriated, harassed, imprisoned, and humiliated every day. However, it is their work which producesriches. Theirproducekeeps our fragile economygoing. It is their work which providesthe honey for those of our people who have used our countryas their personalhoneypot. It is these very peasants who suffer the most from our lack of infrastructure,of roads, buildings,health services. These peasants, the source of our wealth, suffer most from the lack of schools and educationalequipmentfor their children.It is their childrenwho will swell the ranks of the unemployed after a brief time in schools which teach them nothingabouttheir own reality and their own country.Illiteracyis highest among them (98 per cent). Those who have the greatest need of knowledge, to improve their productivity,are the very ones who profit least from the investmentsmade in health, educationand technology. The youth of our countryside,like all young people, are extremely sensitive to social injustice and want to see progress. Driven by despair they leave the countrysideand thus depriveit of its most dynamicelements. The urbancentres of Ouagadougouand Bobo Dioulassoare magnets for these young people. They hope to find work there and also to be able to take advantage of what modern facilities we have. But the lack of jobs makes them idle and therefore open to all THEPOLITICAL ORIENTATION OFBURKINA FASO 51 the vices whichcome with idleness. Finally,in ordernot to end up in prison,they flee abroad where the most shameful forms of humiliationand exploitationlie ahead. But has our society really given them any other choices? After 23 years of neo-colonialismthis is the situation here in our country paradise for some and hell for others. The National RevolutionaryCouncil assumed responsibilityfor establishing a new order and restoring our country to its rightful place as a prosperous and respected country. The parasites, who profited from colonial and neocolonial Upper Volta, are and will always be hostile to the changes ushered in by the 4 August 1983 revolution. They remain attached by an umbilical cord to international imperialism. They are and will remain the defenders of their privileges acquiredby their allegianceto imperialism.No matter what we say or do they will remain as they are and will continue with plots to regain their lost kingdom.We shouldnever expect a change of mentalityand attitude on the part of these nostalgiccitizens. They are not sensitive to the voice of the revolutionary class which is fighting against exploiters and oppressors. These enemies were identifiedby the people during the revolution.They are: First, the bourgeoisiewho were part of the state bourgeoisieor the comprador bourgeoisieand a middle-levelbourgeoisie: The state bourgeoisie: these were politicos and bureaucrats. The political monopolyallowedthem to enrichthemselves in a scandalousfashion. They used the state apparatusjust as a capitalistuses the forces of productionto exploithis workers. This section of the bourgeoisiewill never willingly renounce their old ways and quietly watch our revolutionarychanges get under way. The commercialbourgeoisie:this group is closely linked to imperialism.The end of imperialist dominationmeans to them the end of the chicken who lays the golden eggs. That is why they oppose the present revolutionas strongly as they can. In this group we find the speculatorsand saboteurs who hoard goods and thereby starve our people. The middle-levelbourgeoisie:this group, althoughlinkedto imperialism,is also its rival for controlof the market. But as it is not strong it is always being squeezed out by imperialism. Although it therefore has serious contradictions with imperialismthis group tends to ally with imperialismbecause it is afraid of our people. In fact as imperialist dominationin our country prevents these people from playingthe real role of a nationalbourgeoisiesome of them at any rate may be favourableto the Revolution.They may identifywith the people. Howeverone must be wary of completelyacceptingsuch people as all kinds of opportunistscan flock to the Revolutionfor various motives. Second, the old-fashionedforces whose power comes from the traditionalfeudal structuresof our society. The majorityof these forces put up a firm resistanceto Frenchcolonialimperialism.But since we regainedour nationalsovereigntythey have made commoncause with the reactionarybourgeoisieto oppressourpeople. These forces have kept the peasant masses in a down-troddensituation and abused them in all kinds of electoral frauds. These reactionaryforces have used all the decadentvalues of our traditionalculture which are still alive in the rural areas to preserve their own interests. These interests are of course identicalto those of imperialismand opposedto those of the people. These reactionaryforces 52 REVIEW OF AFRICANPOLITICALECONOMY are of course opposed to the revolution precisely because it seeks to bring democracy into the countryside and make the peasants themselves more responsible. It seeks too to bring within the peasants' grasp the chance of learning which can lead to their economicand culturalemancipation. The revolutionaryforces are made up of: 1) Our workingclass: this class is young and small, but has alreadyprovedthat it really is a revolutionaryclass in its continuousstruggles against the owners. In this revolutionit is a class with everythingto gain and nothingto lose. In the neocolonial society this class has had no means of productionto lose, no piece of propertyto defend. 2) The petit bourgeoisie:this is a large and unstable section of society which vacillates between the people and imperialism.The majoritywill end by joining the masses. Among the various groups are: small shopkeepers,petit bourgeois intellectuals(civil servants, students, private sector employees),and craftsmen. 3) The peasantry: the majority are small farmers working on their own farms. Since the introductionof capitalism in our country land held collectively has become less and less common. Tradingrelationshipsand private propertyhave replaced community interdependence. In this new situation created by capitalism'spenetrationof our countrysideour peasants have taken on bourgeois relations of production.So, in truth, our peasants can be countedas part of the petit bourgeoisie. The currents of progress and modernisationhave completely bypassedour countryside- so economicallyand culturallybackward.It has just been a reservoirfor reactionaryparty politics. However, from a numericalpoint of view this class is the principalforce of the revolutionand certainly a prime beneficiary. 4) The lumpen-proletariat:this category of people, becausethey are out of work, can always be bought by reactionariesand counter-revolutionariesto carry out their dirty work. If the revolution can convert them by giving them useful employmentthey could become fervent defenders. The Character of the August Revolution The various revolutions the world has seen do not resemble each other at all. Each one has its authentic character distinguishing it from others. Our revolution,the August Revolution,is a case in point. It takes place in a backward agriculturalcountry. The weight of tradition and of the ideology of a feudal society weigh heavilyon the masses. It is a revolutionin a countrywhichchanged from colonyto neo-colonyunder the dominationand exploitationof imperialism. It is a revolutionin a countrywhich still lacks an organisedand militantworking class with a conception of a historical mission. We have no tradition of revolutionarystruggle. Our revolutionwas born in a tiny country and at a time when the internationalrevolutionarymovementis witheringday by day without any immediatehope of formingitself into a blockto encourageor supportyoung revolutionarymovements. The August Revolution is a democratic one. Its first tasks are the ending of imperialist domination and exploitation; the purging of social, economic and culturalhabitswhichkeep our countryin its backwardstate. It will be builton the involvement of all the people. They are mobilising themselves around the democraticand revolutionarystructures which will supporttheir interests over THE POLITICALORIENTATIONOF BURKINAFASO 53 those of reactionaryallies of imperialism.Instead of the old state machinerya new machine is being built to guarantee the democratic use of power by the people and for the people. Our Revolutionis an anti-imperialistone, but it is a revolutionwhich has to be made within the bourgeois economicand social structure already outlined. The bourgeoisie of under-developedcountries under capitalism is marked by a congenitalincapacityto revolutionisetheir societies as the Europeanbourgeoisie did in 1789, that is when it was still a rising class. These are the characteristicsand the limitationsof the Revolutionwhich began here on 4 August 1983. By understandingit clearlyand definingit exactly we can guard against the dangers of deviation and excesses which could hinder the success of the revolution. The revolution'sobjectis to give the people power. That is why the very first act of the revolution,after the 4 August Proclamation,was to call on the people to form RevolutionaryDefence Committees (CDRs). The National Revolutionary Council (CNR) believes that for this to be truly a people's revolution it must destroy the neo-colonialstate machinery and organise a new machine which guarantees the people's sovereignty.The questionof just how that power will be exercised or how it should be organised is the primary question the revolution must confront. The history of our countryhas been dominatedby the exploitativeconservative classes. They exercised an anti-democraticdictatorshipby their control over politics, the economy,ideology, culture, administrationand justice. The primary objective of the revolution is to take power out of the hands of our national bourgeoisieand their imperialistallies and put it in the hands of the people. This means that the people's democratic power will be able to oppose the antidemocraticdictatorshipof the reactionarieswho backedimperialism. The CDRs shouldbe seen as shocktroops who can attack any area of resistance. They will build us a revolutionarycountry. They will carry the revolutioninto every province, every village, every public or private business, every home, everywhere. CDR militants must take on new ways of seeing things and new ways of behaving in order to set an example to the people. While making the revolution we must at the same time transform our own personal qualities. Withoutsuch personaltransformationof those who set out to buildthe revolution it will be practicallyimpossibleto create a new society which does not run on corruption,theft, lies and individualism.We have to bring our acts into line with our words and study our own behaviour so we are not open to attack from counter-revolutionaries. If we keep constantly in mind that the interests of the people come before our own we will not make mistakes. Some militants dream the dreams of counterrevolutionaries,hopingto profit from the CDRs. They have to be denouncedand fought against. We have no room for stars or publicity-seekers.The quickersuch tendenciesare stampedout the better for the revolution.To us the revolutionary is someonewho knows how to be modest, but is also completelydedicatedin the tasks given to nim. He or she carries throughthe tasks without showing off and without expecting any return. The August Revolutiondid not come to installyet anotherregime. The revolution 54 REVIEW OF AFRICANPOLITICALECONOMY came to break with all the regimes we have known. The revolution'sultimate objective is to build a new society in our country. In this new society all our citizens with a revolutionaryconsciousness will build their own happiness, a happinesswhich will be great as the effort put in. To do this the revolutionwill set in motion a complete upheavalin all sectors of economic,social and cultural life no matter how much this may displease the conservative and backwardlooking sectors of our society. From now on the philosophyof revolutionarytransformationwill take over in the following sectors: 1) the nationalarmy 2) the politics of women 3) economictransformationor buildingthe economy. The defence of our country's revolution cannot be left to one group of men however competent they may be. The people would not want that. The people themselves, once arousedby the revolution,will defend this countrythemselves. Our revolutionis in the interests of all those who are oppressed or exploited in the society we have today. Women's dominationby men comes fundamentally from the political and economic structures of our society. The revolution, by changingthe social order which oppresses women, will create the conditionsfor her true emancipation.Both women and men in our society are the victims of oppressionand dominationby imperialism.Their struggle is therefore the same one. Revolutionand women's emancipationgo together. It is no act of charityor flight of humanitarianismto talk of women's emancipation.It is a fundamental necessity for the triumphof the revolution.Real liberationfor women is having responsibilityand being involved in various productive activities and different people's struggles. Real liberationof women will force respect and consideration from men. Women'sliberation,like all freedoms, has to be fought for - it is not just given out. It is up to womenthemselves to make their demandsand organise themselves so that they are met. The DemocraticPeople's Revolutionwill create the necessary conditions for our women to fulfill themselves. Is it conceivable that we couldend the system of exploitation,but keep more than half the society - the women - in chains? The CNR realises that buildingan independent,self-sufficient,plannednational economy means a radicaltransformationof our society. It means the following major reforms:land reform;administrativereform;educationalreform;reform of production and distributionin the modern sector of the economy. All the shacklesof traditionalsocio-economicstructureswhichoppresspeasants must be abolished. Agriculturewill be made the under-pinningof industrialdevelopment.This can be done by giving food self-sufficiencyits real meaning. It is too often said as an empty slogan. The struggle against nature will be hard, but other countriesno better endowedhave had miraculoussuccesses in agriculture.The CNR does not lull itself with illusionsabouthuge sophisticatedprojects.Onthe contrary,lots of small projectswill turn the countryinto one big field, a series of farms. We will struggle against those who have made our people go hungry - speculatorsand agricultural capitalists of all sorts. We will ensure against the imperialist dominationof our agriculturein its orientation,in the theft of resources, in the disloyal competitionagainst our local resources by fancy imported goods. Fair THE POLITICALORIENTATIONOF BURKINAFASO 55 pricing policies and agro-industrialunits will protect peasants by ensuringthem year-roundmarkets. In the near future, when programmesfor the various sectors are drawn up, the whole countrywill be a vast work place where every one of us of workingage will be involvedin the battle for prosperity. Ourswill be a countrywhere the people themselves are the sole masters of all material and immaterialriches. Finallywe must place our revolutionwithinthe worldrevolutionaryprocess. Our revolution is an integral part of the worldwide movement for peace and democracyagainst imperialismand all kinds of hegemony. We will have diplomaticrelations with all countries regardless of their political and economicsystem on the basis of the following principles: - reciprocal respect for independen.ce, territorial integrity and national sovereignty; - mutual non-aggression; - non-interventionin internal affairs; - commercewith all countrieson a footing of equalityand reciprocaladvantage. Our soiidarity and strong support go to all national liberation movements fighting for independenceand the liberationof their people. This support goes especially to: - the people of Namibiaunder the leadershipof SWAPO; the Saharanpeople for the recovery of their nationalterritory; the Palestinianpeople for their national rights. In our struggle the anti-imperialistAfricancountriesare our objectiveallies. And the current regrouping of neo-colonial powers on our continent makes it imperativeto draw closer to our allies. - Long live the DemocraticPeople's Revolution. Long live the National RevolutionaryCouncil. Motherlandor death, we shall overcome.
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Running Head: THE ‘POLITICAL ORIENTATION ‘OF BURKINA FASO

The ‘Political Orientation ‘of Burkina Faso
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THE ‘POLITICAL ORIENTATION ‘OF BURKINA FASO

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The intellectual idea that is viscerally spoken to me is anti-imperialism; this is the act of
opposing imperialism. The word Imperialism is used to refer to the action that comprises of a
certain country spreading its authority by the acquirement of territories. This also includes the
territory exploitation for their benefits. A common type of the imperialism is the colonialism.
Colonialism was highly subjected to the people of Africa with Burkina Faso being in the midst of
the imperialism. However, a new ...


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