The date of October 15 marked by the assassination of the father of the Burkinabè revolution in 1987, was dedicated this Sunday, October 15, 2023, a day of tribute to President Thomas Sankara by decree of the President of the Transition Captain Ibrahim Traoré.
As part of the commemoration of the 36th anniversary of the assassination of President Thomas Sankara, the President of the Transition, Captain Ibrahim Traoré laid a wreath of flowers at the foot of the statue of the late president. On the occasion, the date of October 15 was dedicated as a day of tribute to President Thomas Sankara by presidential decree.
During the commemoration ceremony, the decree elevating Thomas Sankara to the Dignity of Hero of the Nation was read by the Minister of State, Minister of Civil Service, Labor and Social Protection Bassolma Bazié.
The vice-president of the International Thomas Sankara Memorial Committee (CIMTS), retired Colonel Major Daouda Traoré, saluted President Traoré and his government for having elevated
Isidore Noël Thomas Sankara to the dignity of Hero of the Nation, ‘to our very great satisfaction and that of the youth, patriots, Pan-Africanists and many citizens of the World.’
He also welcomed the baptism of the former Avenue Charles de Gaulle into Boulevard Thomas Sankara, ‘the name of the most famous Burkinabè citizen in the world, which adorns him with the seal of the dignity and sovereignty of our people’.
He also noted that very significant progress has been made regarding the infrastructure and other activities of the Memorial. These advances in his opinion ‘will allow the start of the project, under the management of a state and public body subject to all the requirements of efficiency, transparency and accountability’.
Following President Thomas Sankara, the CIMTS is ‘hard at work so that its companions (who) experienced the same tragic fate are recognized as martyrs of the Nation,’ informed the vice-president of the Committee. He says he is convinced of the benevolence of the President of the
Transition and his government for ‘this issue to have a happy outcome’.
Retired Colonel Major Daouda Traoré welcomed at the national and African level, ‘the uncompromising commitment (of President Traoré) and the implacable fight’ that he is waging ‘for the reconquest of the territory, against the terrorists and their sponsors, various accomplices and supporters.’
For him, all of President Traoré’s actions show the importance that he attaches “to the thought and values embodied by Captain Thomas Sankara” and he puts them “implemented in a more serious and more complex context”.
Daouda Traoré greeted ‘the 13 grieving families for their courage, their dignity, and assured them of the support and renewed sympathy’ of the CIMTS.
He also greeted civil society organizations, political organizations and all natural and legal persons, in Burkina, in Africa and around the world who fought for this day to arrive, notably the former presidents of Burkina Roch Marc Christian Kaboré and Ghanaian John Jerry Rawlings.
For his part, the president of the Special Delegation (PDS) Maurice Konaté affirmed that ‘the commune of Ouagadougou wishes to position itself in a good place among the actors who will actively contribute to the realization of the ambitious project (of the Memorial) which will be erected in these places and (which) will undoubtedly constitute a new attraction of our City and of Burkina as a whole.’
‘In this dynamic, we opened our doors to the International Committee of the Thomas Sankara Memorial and the Council of the Special Delegation had the opportunity to be presented in detail with the architectural project by our compatriot Francis Kéré, this Burkinabè icon of internationally renowned architecture,’ he said.
In view of the urgent need for modern toilets for visitors to the site and particularly the elderly and children, hundreds of whom parade on these sites during the school year, led by their teachers, the commune of Ouagadougou has “built modern toilets which are in the process of being received”,
according to its first manager.
Maurice Konaté also says he is waiting for ‘proposals from the Committee for the establishment of shops near the Thomas Sankara Memorial’. These shops, according to him ‘will be rented to interested people so that the many visitors can treat themselves to quality souvenir gifts’.
‘To do this, the Municipality of Ouagadougou will register budget lines for its substantial contribution,’ he promised. The municipality will also mobilize, according to the PDS, “partners for this purpose, because this memorial project is also full, beyond its memorial dimension, of significant economic, financial, technological and job creation potential, in addition to be a new urban living space’.
Maurice Konaté expressed his ‘deep gratitude’ to President Ibrahim Traoré, and to ‘the entire government, for the salutary decision to elevate President Thomas Sankara to the rank of national hero’.
Source: Burkina Information Agency